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It’s that time of year again! This is the third year in a row that I’ve published a list of “Sarah’s Favorite Things”.
This lineup represents the new food and health-related products I discovered over the past 12 months that are excellent quality, affordable, planet-friendly and wellness-enhancing.
I hope you enjoy browsing through and get some good ideas for your own home as well as for holiday gifts or stocking stuffers!
Interested in my previous lists? Click here for my 2018 list and here for my 2017 list.
Healthy Living
Wego Jump Starting Power Pack
The Wego self-jump starter set is a set of jumper cables combined with a portable power pack. In other words, you don’t have to connect to another vehicle to jump-start a dead car battery.
It comes with a nifty case so you can neatly tuck it under one of the front seats of the car.
Some of you might ask how a jump starter can contribute to healthy living? The reason is that when your battery dies…and it eventually happens to all of us, you will be able to start your car back up yourself in a couple of minutes without the stress of sitting by the side of the road until assistance arrives!
Personal Slow Cooker
I originally got a personal slow cooker for my son when he went off to college. But, I ended up loving it so much that I got one for myself too.
I use it for making the easiest 24-hour raw milk yogurt ever. I make about 2 batches a week. I simply fill the two-quart pot with raw milk leaving a few inches at the top, stir in 5 TBL of plain whole milk yogurt saved from the last batch (or an organic yogurt brand from the store), put on the lid, turn the setting to “yogurt” and leave for 24 hours. It’s perfect every time!
UV light for Central Air Conditioning
I can truly say that the installation of a UV light for our HVAC system has changed my life. Earlier this year, we had one installed due to issues with mold forming on our HVAC coils. Even though we have 5 HEPA air filters throughout our home, the mold from the coils would blow into the house and float around for a few minutes before it was removed by the filters…so it was still causing some health issues for me.
If you have mold sensitivity issues in your home despite using air filters, I would strongly suggest looking into this technology!
Green Home
Weed Dragon
If you’re still using Roundup around your yard to kill unwanted vegetation, the weed dragon is the product you need to stop using this deadly herbicide immediately! This ingenious device kills weeds permanently with heat instead of chemicals.
Suggestion: loan it to your neighbor or your child’s school if their spraying is driving you crazy.
The weed dragon has received the National Home Gardening Club Member Tested Seal-of-Approval.
Air Plants
Air plants are the perfect solution for those who want live, indoor plants, but don’t have a green thumb or much time for upkeep. Simply spritz with water once a week. No soil required. So simple, you can put one in every room of the house! These make great gifts, by the way!
Talking Alarm Clock
Getting all the light out of your bedroom is very important for hormone production while you sleep. To replace the unhealthy glow from an alarm clock (it’s the first thing I unplug in a hotel room!), a talking alarm clock designed for the elderly and blind is the perfect solution.
Waterproof Faraday Backpack
A 100% waterproof faraday backpack is an effective way to protect any and all electronic devices you have from hacking when you at school or work or otherwise traveling/on the road.
Blocks all types of EMFs including bluetooth, WiFi, cellular, GPS, 5G, EMP…even solar flares.
Shielding Canopy
If you live less than a half-mile from a cell phone tower or antenna or have a bank of smart meters near your apartment wall, this can greatly impact your health according to the current research.
What if you can’t move for the time being and you are EMF sensitive? An attractive, yet highly functional shielding canopy over your bed can create an EMF free sleeping environment for you so you can get 100% relief at night.
I actually think sleeping environments like this will become very common with the advent of 5G and the skyrocketing number of people who have issues with 24/7 EMF exposure.
Foods
Organic bread of Heaven
By far, my favorite food find of 2019 has been Organic Bread of Heaven. I LOVE this family-owned bakery that ships authentic sourdough to your front door! They have fantastic and VERY affordable gift baskets for any occasion.
There are literally dozens of fresh baked goods available; here are my personal favorites:
- Rustic sourdough (they have multi-grain, oat and rye sourdough also)
- Sourdough bagels
- Sourdough cinnamon bread
- Tortillas
- Sourdough English muffins
- Sourdough burger buns
Dried fruit
Dried fruit that is organic and doesn’t have any sugar added is hard to find. And, when you do find it, it tends to be insanely expensive.
I was happy to discover this year a brand of dried fruit that is sweetened without sugar with an affordable price tag too. I get it at Sprouts for about $5/bag. I love the wild blueberries and cranberries for adding to my breakfast oatmeal!
Sprouted Granola
The vast majority of granola on the market is simply not worth buying. It is almost always loaded with sugar or even alternative sweeteners! The grains are not properly prepared either. You can imagine my excitement, then, when I discovered this sprouted granola that contains only small amounts of honey and molasses.
Supplements
Whole Food B Complex
If you prefer to take B complex capsules, Catie’s Whole Food B Complex is a good one to use. Other than this brand, I have not found a B complex that is as high quality.
It only contains food and herbs with no sneakily added synthetics. It even contains Vitamin B17, which is next to impossible to find together with other B vitamins.
Glyphosate-Free Collagen Peptides
If you use collagen peptides, I would strongly encourage you to be careful as a number of these products are turning up extremely high in Roundup when tested.
Currently, there is only one brand of collagen that is independently certified free of glyphosate (aka, Roundup), so it’s the only one I will use.
Personal Care
Activated Charcoal + Magnesium Deodorant
If you are having trouble getting some family members off toxic antiperspirants that contain aluminum, parabens and other toxic ingredients, try this activated charcoal/magnesium deodorant. It’s the best one I’ve found for athletes and otherwise active people who think they can’t get off toxic brands because natural deodorants “don’t work”. This one DOES work, at least for the athletes in my house 🙂
Bonus: you get a dose of magnesium with each use (most people are very deficient), and this mineral absorbs very well through the skin.
Canelle Cinnamon Oil Mosquito Repellent Spray
This Canelle Spray made from Ceylon cinnamon oil is BY FAR the best natural mosquito repellent spray I’ve ever tried. Best of all, it smells DELICIOUS. I love it, love it, love it. I really think you will too! Try some on your next outdoor adventure.
All the info you provide is super helpful and much appreciated. I hope you can answer the following for me.
Do I also have to buy yogurt culture in addition to the yogurt used as started when starting to make yogurt…whether with cow’s milk, almond milk, goat milk?
Have you tried making yogurt from almond or goat milk or another type and what did you use and how did it turn out?
Have you ever made water kefir and what did you use?
I’m looking for an EMF reducing/protection cushion you sit on and a grounding mat you put your feet on…do you have any recommendations please? Thank you so much.
You do *not* have to buy yogurt starter … just use actual yogurt as the starter. The first time, use some from the store (organic, whole milk plain) and then from that point forward, save some of your batch to start the next batch.
I have not tried to make almond milk yogurt this way. Goat milk yogurt would be the exact same process as using cow milk though. I make goat milk kefir and it is exactly the same as when I make cow milk kefir, for example.
Yes, I make water kefir. Here’s my recipe. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/homemade-kefir-soda/
I recommend these grounding products. https://www.radiantlifecatalog.com/category/earthing-grounding/?a=58537
Hope that helps 🙂
Thank You Sarah
That is exactly what I needed to know-the non toxic window cleaner.
Thank you so much for this list!
Hello Sarah
This is a truly great list. Thank You.I will be checking out the canopy for the bed.
I asked previously about cleaning stainless steel but it’s not really cleaning but how to prevent streaks. Is the baking soda abrasive or does it leave a film or streaking. Really just want to remove fingerprints and keep them at bay. Some sites say to use olive oil and buff.
I use baking soda to clean my stainless steel sink and have for years. It works great and leaves no streaks at least for me.
Thank You
I use baking soda too for the sink and pots but what do you use on the stainless steel appliances-refrigerator doors, stove and dish washer. They are not really dirty but maybe finger prints etc.
Oh I see. I just use a nontoxic window cleaner for those. Works great!
Hi Sarah! Always love your lists–always choose at least one thing–the vitaclay yogurt maker was my pick this year (I already have the multi cooker and the large stock pot–use both ALL the time). The little yogurt maker has just arrived and I have a couple of quick questions: 1) Do you heat the milk, then cool it, before adding to yogurt maker along with starter? (FYI, I’ll be using raw milk). 2) Did you season your pot before use? Thanks so much, for the list, and for your help.
You do not need to heat the raw milk at all before adding to the small Vita-Clay. I literally just pour in the milk and fill to just a few inches below the top and stir in 5 TBL of my previous batch of whole plain yogurt (or organic store yogurt works fine too which is what I started with for my first batch). The small Vita-Clay heats up the milk to around 110F and keeps it there (still maintains rawness at this temperature) which is enough for the starter to take but not hot enough to kill probiotics/enzymes. The yogurt is warm but not hot when it’s done … I love to enjoy a bowl of warm, cream top yogurt before I refrigerate 🙂 So easy!! Note that the finished yogurt thickens up some more in the refrigerator.
Wash the pot with warm soapy water before using but there is no seasoning necessary.
Thanks for the great information, Sarah. My first batch (started with cold raw milk/store bought yogurt, incubated for 24 hours) turned out Great! I went ahead and warmed the second batch just to see if there would be a difference in texture. Making the first batch was SO easy; the second batch was a lot of messing around with taking the temperature as it warmed, cooling to 110, etc. It’s incubating now so I don’t yet know the end result, but it would really have to show spectacular improvement over the cold milk start before I would bother warming again. And indeed, it is amazing warm with the cream top (try it with a teeny sprinkle of sea salt)–and indeed, it did firm up in the refrigerator. Love Love Love this little VitaClay…so happy for your recommendation. I stock up on yogurt when I’m in the city so I can get the good kind–now the “good kind” is only as far away as my VitaClay. (I know, I sound like an ad for VitaClay:))
Hi Sarah. Great list! You mentioned you have 5 HEPA air purifiers in your home. Can you recommend one? Thanks, Paula.
This is a good one: https://www.airdoctorpro.com/HealthyHomeEconomist/
The Atmosphere is also a good product. https://amzn.to/37vCrXK
We have used HEPA filters for 25 years now. They are essential to health IMO. We have one in each bedroom and one in the living area.
Great list, thank you for the ideas!
OmiGosh! I’m really excited over most of these items and will have to look into getting some! Thank you so much!