The Casa Way

Author: mbacasa

  • Non Toxic Help for Pimples

    My daughter is a pre-teen and, like most of her friends, is struggling to keep her skin clear. At such a young age, I would prefer to keep her away from any harsh chemicals or medicine. Luckily, we have found a great solution!

    I know when I was a kid I tried so many products from the pharmacy shelves. Today, it seems like doctors are quick to prescribe even stronger medicines for such young kids. If you read the side effects of these drugs, it will scare you. Go ahead, google Accutane side effects. If at all possible to control breakouts without such strong medicine, why not?

    To be honest, my daughter doesn’t have severe acne, just typically pre-teen breakouts. I can’t say how our non-toxic treatment would work on a very severe case. Just like anything else, it might work for some, and not for others.

    So what is it? Well, my favorite magical answer to what seems like almost everything…Coconut oil! The good kind – organic, virgin coconut oil. We get ours at Costco since we use it for everything, we need the mega size.

    The routine in our house is every night is, brush teeth, wash face, apply coconut oil, and go to bed. You would think that the greasy oil would cause breakouts, but nope! It actually dries up any pimples – usually in one to two days. Turns out that the science behind it is that it contains lauric acid. The lauric acid actually kills any bacteria in the pimples while moisturizing the rest of your face.

    Listen, I’m no doctor. Please don’t take medical advice from me! This is what my family does. It works for us. It won’t work for all. But if even just a handful of people can avoid toxic medicine for their daughters and use this simple solution because of this post, I’ll be happy!

  • My Coconut Oil Obsessions

    My Coconut Oil Obsessions

    Most of us know that there are hundreds of ways to use coconut oil. I have tried many of them. The oddest one to me is “oil pulling.” This is where you take a spoonful of coconut oil and sort of swish and pull it around your mouth for 10 minutes, then spit it out. It should whiten your teeth and get rid of toxins. I just can’t get motivated enough for that one.

    My favorite uses for coconut oil are on my skin, on my furniture, and on my leather boots. It is so simple, inexpensive, and more effective than anything else. On my tables, I use cloth or towel and just rub it right on My wooden tables soak it in and they look like new. I do need to go back with a dry rag and get up any extra otherwise there will be visible greasy streaks.

    After not having shoe polish for my husband before a work event, I substituted coconut oil and was thrilled with the results. My boots and my husbands leather shoes look like new after I give them a good coating. Lighter brown shoes will turn a little bit darker from the oil and can have a wet look until it dries. If you dont mind a slightly darker shade, I highly recommend it. Black shoes and boots do the best as they come out shiny and new looking!

    I saved the best for last. SKIN CARE! I am not a fan of additives and chemicals on my skin. We use all fragrance-free detergents and I stay away from perfume-filled lotions. Coconut oil has been amazing on my skin. It can get greasy if you put too much on, so start slow. The best part is that even though it is moisturizing your skin, it will also dry up pimples! It is like magic.

    I would love to hear the ways others use coconut oil and how they have liked it.

    Here is my affiate link for a wonderful, trusted brand of Coconut oil. Remeber, using my links is the only way I can make money to keep blogging about my favorite products. I wouldn’t recomend them if i didn’t 100% trust them. Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3LJFDp4

  • Clothes shopping made easy.

    Clothes shopping made easy.

    I have struggled my whole life to find clothes that were in my price range and look good on me. I am 5’8″ with a 33″ inseam. Pants off the rack do not come in a 33″ inseam so most of the time I have to special order pants. I would also be overwhelmed by just how many options there were in the store, and didn’t know how to put outfits together. Even when I found some items, typically, by the time I got home, I changed my mind and added them to the return pile.

    Once I became a mom, I felt like it was even more difficult. My shape had changed, the young stores seemed too young for me, and the mature stores seemed too old for me. Not only that, but as a working mom, my free time to walk around the mall for hours was long gone. Online shopping worked sometimes, but was really hit or miss.

    I started a monthly subscription through StitchFix a few years ago. I was able to take a few quizzes online that showed my personal style. I was surprised when the first box came and I kept all 5 pieces for under $150. Not only that, but I had gotten my first pair of new work pants in two years. The best part was that I didnt have to do anything. I didnt have to look endessly online or waste 2 hours in a department store. Some fancy algorithum decided exactly what would work for me. (Technically StitchFix says that a personal stylist picks out your clothes, but I find that hard to believe.)

    Years later, I now have both my kids signed up for their own StitchFix boxes, and I get mine ever three months. It is a nice way to get me ready for upcoming seasons. My kids love getting a box as well.

    If you are interested in giving StitchFix a chance, my code will get you $25 off your first order. Click here for $25 off your first order.

  • The best idea before deciding to get a puppy.

    The best idea before deciding to get a puppy.

    Like many kids, my daughter had been begging for a dog for years. Well, with two working parents and an empty house from 8-5:30 every day, there was a simple answer. However, after realizing that pandemic life was not going to end quickly, and my husband’s job moved him permanently home, the answer wasn’t so simple anymore. My daughter’s detailed PowerPoint presentations about how our family desperately needed a dog actually started having an impact on our point of view on getting a puppy.

    Our family is a typical busy household with two working parents, young kids in school and sports, and between friends and family, it seems like there are constant visitors. Trying to imagine how a dog would fit in our already crazy life seemed overwhelming. Who would feed the dog, walk the dog, and play with the dog? Would my house be a safe place for a dog? Do our friends have allergies to dogs? The list went on and on.

    As a promise (and an attempt to push off getting a dog) we got two hamsters for the girls. These things had to be far easier to take care of than a dog, and I thought it would help make the girls realize how much work an animal is. This didn’t go as planned. If anything, it completely backfired. The girls kept pointing out that the hamsters don’t compare to a dog and they just didn’t want to play with them as much. They really were not even that much work. My kids were happy to feed them and give them water but cleaning the cage was really more than they could handle so even if they offered, they knew I was going to have to do it myself. To make matters worse, one hamster has aggression issues and started eating the other one, so we had to get a separate cage to keep them safely apart. Now I was cleaning two smelly cages of rodents that I definitely didn’t want in my house, and we were no clearer on if a dog was a good idea for our family.

    After 2.5 years of hamster life, we were finally hamster free. The girls were clear on how much they helped with the hamsters (weekly food checks hardly seemed like much to me, but that didn’t keep them from bragging). After the terrible hamster decision, we finally had a good idea that would actually help us figure out if a dog was going to be good for our family.

    We decided to start by fostering dogs for a local organization that needed help. The girls learned quickly how much work a dog was. Our first few times were only a few days or a weekend, but then we had a german shepherd for 5 months. This dog stole our hearts. My girls would nap on the floor next to her, they would play endlessly with her, they would try to show her new tricks, at dinner they would tell me stories all about her day, and they would take endless pictures of her around the house. They didn’t provide much care for her, they couldn’t walk her without me, it was easier to feed her myself than constantly ask them if they fed her.

    We learned exactly what life with a dog was like while we had her. If it was too much for us, we knew we only had a few months, so the commitment wasn’t as scary.

  • Uncomplicated Weight Loss

    Uncomplicated Weight Loss

    Why is it that when someone wants to lose weight that it seems like there is endless conflicting research on how to do it? It is almost like the internet gods want us to be overwhelmed and confused so we give up and keep struggling with weight loss.

    After years of pinning complicated weight loss plans, recipes, and motivational quotes, I turned it all off and followed my common sense. Eat a reasonable amount of healthy foods and cut out the crap. That might not be what I eventually name this diet when I decide to make a cookbook.

    Garlic Truffle Oil Fries @ MonkeyPod, Maui

    What to cut?
    The crap! Sugary anything, baked goods, fried food, second helpings. It is amazing how I can think I’m eating healthy and unsure why I wasn’t losing weight until I looked back and realized that we had a work celebration with a cake on Tuesday, then Wednesday my daughter got a 100% on a test so we took her for ice cream, and Friday we ordered in and decided to get the mozzarella sticks and garlic knots. Well, there goes any hope of weight loss. To be honest, just cutting ALL the crap make a big difference.

    Quick & Easy Sauteed Broccoli

    What to eat?
    What is a balanced diet? Who knows anymore? Eggs – good or bad? Milk – good or bad? Whole wheat – friend or foe? Corn? Meat? Carbs? What we all know is that we don’t eat enough veggies. If we could load up on veggies we couldn’t go wrong. Limiting the rest is a good place to start. Instead of a chicken sandwich with a side of fries, I think we can all agree that a grilled chicken salad with cucumber and tomatoes is going to be better. Instead of a bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel – let’s grab a spinach egg bake.

    Spinach & Feta Egg Bake

    Does it have to be difficult?
    I wouldn’t call eating healthy to lose weight – “difficult”. It just requires some work. If you are willing to put in a little work in the beginning, the benefits will be worth it. Unfortunately, when it comes to food, the easy way out can often be the unhealthiest. I don’t exactly meal prep in pretty jars for the entire week, but I will make extra grilled chicken every time we make it. I will make enough eggs for the week instead of just one meal. It doesn’t feel like a meal prep session because I’m just making more of each meal when I make it.

    Follow my journey, my meal plan, and some of my favorite recipes.

  • Life (is better) with a dog.

    Life (is better) with a dog.

    Yes. We finally gave in to getting a dog, but only after years of my daughter begging and a few trial runs that you can read about here: https://thecasaway.wordpress.com/category/dog-lovers/.

    We love the thought of dog rescue but for our local New Jersey rescues, we didn’t qualify. We had a young child, we worked out of the home during the day (pre-covid when we were applying), and we didn’t have a fence. So – we started looking at breeders. Thinking of all the possible breeds we knew we wanted a large dog. I grew up with a Bichon Frise and he was stubborn, had high anxiety, and was expensive to keep groomed.

    What Breed?
    German Shepherds? Pros. Awesome dogs! Very loyal, beautiful, smart, easy to train. Cons. Some can be vocal, they can be scary to young kids, and they can be protective of their “person”. With young kids in our house all the time for play dates, it wasn’t the right breed for us.

    Labrador Retriever? Pros. Fun, happy, easy to train, and one of the most popular breeds for good reason. Cons. If you like big dogs there are not any true cons here.

    Yellow lab and Golden Reteiver chewing two bones next to eachother.

    Golden Retriever? Pros. Loving, friendly, goofy, and easy to train. Cons. Lots of long dog hair and needs lots of attention.

    We didn’t have much debate here. We grew up watching Full House and we know that Comet was the ultimate family pet. We bought a Rumba and brought home the Golden!

    They are NEEDY! Our dog, Logan, misses us so much while we sleep that he actually whines/cries every morning when we wake up. He is always by our side. He prefers to be pet at all times. He has brought our family so much joy, and we couldn’t picture life without him. We foster dogs regularly and I can say all the breeds we have watched are amazing in their own way.