Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Waste Not, Want Not

I love to re-purpose fabrics and materials. I plan to have a 100% homemade Christmas this year and would like to reuse and re-purpose as much as possible.

One of my best finds recently (and by "finds" I mean I found it buried in my laundry room) was a no longer in use canvas laundry sorter. I'm going to use the canvas to make quiet books for the boys and a topsy turvy doll for my daughter. Other things I am re-purposing or have re-purposed include:

Old dress shirts into dresses (removed pockets will be used in the quiet books)
Pillow cases into dresses, skirts and wall organizers
Yard sale sheets will be dyed and turned into tents and skirts
Old jeans will be taken apart and used for quiet books, a car play mat and a skirt
Flannel baby blankets will be turned into diapers, bags, pillows
Old t-shirts can be used for braided rugs, pj pants, skirts, diapers, baby balls
Terry cloth robe turned into cloth baby wipes or used in place of toilet paper
Fleece robe or sweat shirts turned into winter hats and mittens
Wool sweaters turned into longies, shorties (I've seen a quilt made from wool sweaters and it was awesome. It's on my "someday" to-do list.)

What do you re-purpose? Want to share it with more than just me? Visit A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa and join the Simple Lives Thursdays blog hop.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Triceratops

We didn't do a whole lot today because we have a nasty virus in the house and I wanted to get caught up on laundry before the sickness reaches the kids. I also spent a great part of my day spraying vinegar everywhere.

We read two dinosaur books and Maeve copied pictures of eight dinosaurs from the computer. She then colored them in, wrote the name of the dino on the top of the page and put them in clear page protectors. Finn colored in some dinosaurs, but was more interested in just holding his special triceratops, Tink.

Maeve picked tomatoes, basil, parsley, sage and kale to use in pizza sauce. She also picked mint for making tea. She took all of the mint leaves off the stem and put them in a pot of water. That inspired her to pick more herbs and kale. She put it all in a strainer, brought it to the table and offered everyone some of her food. She explained that since we were all triceratops we were herbivores and only ate plants for dinner. Finn is very good at following his sister's directions and took out a huge basil leaf and ate it with a smile.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Palaeobatrachus

Today Maeve was a Palaeobatrachus. Maeve has been obsessed with frogs since Hopper, the tree frog, jumped into our lives. She and a friend recently discovered a bullfrog so Maeve is in full frog mode. She has gathered all of her frog stuffed animals, makes frog nests and makes her brother carry around all of his frogs.

We read a book today about the life cycle of frogs. We also read a book about fossils and another book about the different kinds of dinosaurs. She asked a lot of questions about the Apatosaurus and we talked about the differences between omnivores and carnivores.

Maeve kept calling herself a halaeobatrachus even though I made several attempts to correct her. Finally she decided to look the word up on the computer and discovered that I was right. I was proud of resourcefulness and ability to admit she had been wrong.

Schooly Stuff

I think I'm going to do some reorganizing around here. I want to make this blog a place where I can record homeschool related stuff and a place where I jot down funny stuff about the kids that I want to remember. I started a blog called Homemade Home and that's where you'll find everything related to cooking, sewing, gardening and homemaking.


Friday, July 23, 2010

Christmas Sewing

My goal this year is to have a 100% homemade Christmas. I know it might seem a bit early to start thinking about Christmas, but I'm a mom to three kids, 5 and under.

Here's my working list:

5 year old daughter:
Princess and the Pea play set
Pillow case/sheet skirts or maybe more patchwork skirts

3 year old son:
Car play mat
Big checker board
Pjs and lounge pants

1 year old son:
No clue.
Maybe a touch book using fabric scraps

All three kids:

Female relatives:
Recipe book with my favorite recipes

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Simple Lives Thursday

From A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa:

"Below you'll find the linky to add your post to. Remember you can add your link on any of the four hosting blogs. Remember to link to this post from your blog for this week.

Your Hosts
  1. A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa
  2. Sustainable Eats
  3. GNOWFGLINS
  4. Culinary Bliss
Wherever you choose to post, it will show up on all 4 sites! As a reminder, this blog hop is a way to share with many people your posts on what you are doing to live a simple life. Whether that's gardening, raising urban chickens, making your own deodorant, or cleaning supplies... we want to know about it! If you're into homeopathy, ways to save $ by conserving energy or other ways to live frugally... we want to know about it! If you bike, cook real food, homestead or farm... we want to know about it!"

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Menu7/23-8/6

We get groceries every two weeks so I plan my menu accordingly. I am not the most creative when it comes to cooking, but I thought I'd share my menu for those who are curious. Also, we almost always have a fruit and veggie with lunch and dinner, but it varies according to our garden and how fast the kids eat certain fruits.

Week 1
Friday 7/23
Breakfast: baked oatmeal
Lunch: pasta with tomatoes
Dinner: Meatloaf, mashed turnips/potatoes, carrots
*make strawberry jam

Saturday
cereal
leftovers
pork roast, fried zucchini, rolls, chocolate pie (or maybe a cake)
*thaw stew meat, make more dough

Sunday
blueberry scones (or pie...just kidding...maybe)
leftovers
quiche, has browns, strawberries (movie night)
*make pot pies for freezer, make pretzels and bagels

Monday
pancakes with strawberry syrup, eggs
sesame noodles, carrots
penne and meatballs, garlic bread
*double batch of muffins for freezer, freeze extra sauce

Tuesday
muffins and fruit
leftovers
Out to eat with family (may need to flip with Wed)

Wednesday
oatmeal
teriyaki rice and chicken
Cuban beans and rice
*banana bread (yes, I bake a lot)

Thursday
cereal
pizza
potato soup
*thaw chicken

Week 2
Friday 7/30
waffles
leftovers
grilled chicken breasts, fried potatoes
*cook chicken and freeze

Saturday
eggs and rolls
chicken strips and fries (both are homemade)
ham and scalloped potatoes
*make cookies, more dough

Sunday
muffins a fruit
leftovers
eggs, bacon, hash browns, rolls (movie night)

Monday
pancakes
mac and cheese (homemade)
penne alfredo with chicken and peas, bread
*make strawberry scones for freezer

Tuesday
oatmeal
leftovers
Out to eat

Wednesday
eggs and rolls
Maid rites, carrot sticks, fruit
Pollo encebollado

Thursday
banana bread
pasta with tomatoes
Whatever is left in the pantry/freezer (or pot pies)

Monday, July 19, 2010

Strawberry Scones

I love scones. They are great for breakfast and on-the-go kid snacks. Scones can be sweet or savory and can be a sort of dumping ground for whatever is in the pantry.

I recently made a strawberry syrup for waffles (the most delicious waffles on the planet) and had some leftover so I thought I'd made strawberry scones. This recipe is adapted from Confessions of a Tart.

Ingredients:

1/2 C pureed, sweetened strawberries
2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp butter
2/3 C whole milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.

Mix all of your dry ingredients and the butter in the food processor until they are crumbly. You could also cut in the butter with a fork, your hands or a pastry cutter, but I am often one-handed while cooking and baking due to a slightly clingy 11 month old. If you are without the extra "baggage", by all means safe yourself the extra dishes.

Pour dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl. Stir in puree and milk and keep stirring until you have a somewhat sticky dough.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough a few times to be sure everything is incorporated. I skipped the kneading because I was one handed.

Press the dough into a circle about 3/4 inch thick. Cut the circle into eight wedges. Transfer to cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes.

Sprinkle scones with sugar and bake another 5 minutes or until the tops start to brown. You could also make a glaze or just eat them plain.

Scones freeze well either baked or in dough form. If you are freezing before baking, cut into wedges, place on parchment paper and transfer to the freezer. Freeze until firm and store in a freezer safe container until ready to bake.






Friday, July 16, 2010

How to Make Yogurt

My daughter says homemade yogurt is the best. My daughter is also only five so it's probably wise to just try this for yourself.

Ingredients/Materials:
-small container of plain yogurt
-gallon of milk
-dutch oven with a lid
-bath towel
-thermometer
-your favorite spoon for stirring

Preheat your oven to the lowest temperature. Turn it off as soon as it reaches that temp.

1. Dump gallon of milk into your dutch oven. Heat to 180 degrees over medium heat. Stir often so the milk doesn't scorch.

2. Cool to 110 degrees. I like to partially fill my sink with cold water or ice water (or frozen ice packs) and then put my pot in the sink to cool. Keep stirring to release the heat.

3. Add 4 tablespoons of plain yogurt. Stir. Cover.

4. Place covered pot in the oven. Cover the lid with a folded bath towel and try to wrap the towel around the sides of the pot. I fold the towel in thirds the long way.

5. Turn on your oven light and forget about the yogurt for 6 hours. The longer you let the yogurt sit, the tangier it will get. I like the taste at 6 hours.

Now you have a couple of options. You can eat your yogurt (and/or add things like honey, brown sugar, strawberry puree, applesauce and cinnamon, blueberries, vanilla, etc) OR you can strain your yogurt. I prefer a Greek style of yogurt so I always strain mine before eating it.

To strain:
Gather a tea towel or cheese cloth and lay in a colander (a steamer basket works well too). Scoop yogurt into cloth and cover. Let drain in fridge overnight or until it has reached your desired thickness. Make sure you have a pot or pan under the colander or you will have a mess.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Menu Planning

I am thinking about the delicious food I'm going to make tomorrow and thought I'd share about how I plan our meals.

First, we buy our meat in bulk. We have one large upright freezer and two fridge/freezers that we fill with beef and pork. It's nice not having to worry about meat when I plan our meals and I like knowing that I'm almost close enough to hear our cow moo.

Second, I plan meals according to the local grocery store ad and whatever is ready to be harvested in the garden. I love the farmer's market, but hate the crowd so I don't buy as much local produce as I probably should. I'm also not a fan of going several places for groceries because that requires a lot more work and planning on my part. Maybe someday.

Third, I take an inventory of our cupboards and freezers before we shop. Honestly, I've been a bit lacking in this area and my main freezer is so full that I have no idea what is in it. At least I know we have food, right?

This is my basic weekly outline:

Monday: pasta
Tuesday: We usually eat out with our extended family
Wednesday: tacos
Thursday: soup
Friday/Sat: This is our weekend so I don't usually plan anything
Sunday: breakfast

It has helped greatly to have a vague idea of what I need to cook so that even if I'm being lazy and don't plan a menu, I know that I will cook a pasta dish on Monday.

I Don't Own Make-up

The last time I wore make-up was in 2003. At my wedding.

I like my face the way it is and am not big into putting on bunch of weird chemicals only to be kissed off later by my children. Well, I suppose eye make-up isn't kissed off, but I can't stand to have my eye lashes coated in goo.

My sister got married a couple of years ago and I was a bridesmaid. I decided to get a little crazy and wear make-up. I laughed and told the girl applying my make-up that the last time I wore any was at my own wedding. She stopped what she was doing and said, "Aww, hon, you should take some time for yourself. You deserve it."

I thought that was hilarious and really, if I were to take some time for myself, I would do something like shower. Alone.

Homemade laundry detergent

Equal parts of the following:

-grated soap (I grate it with a cheese grater, let it dry for a few days and then run it through the food processor)
-baking soda
-washing soda

I use 1 Tbsp per load in my HE front loader.

Being Domestic: A Lost Art

I was reading about making my own butter recently and had no idea it was so easy. I bought organic heavy whipping cream and voila! Butter. I involved the kids throughout the process, but they were mostly interested in eating the finished product. I told my mom how easy it was to make butter and she said that she remembered making butter in school. That got me thinking....

If she made butter in school, why didn't she ever make it with her kids? Don't get me wrong - my mother did plenty with us and was a star at playing fun games outside. She also cooked most meals from scratch, although my sister, brother and I usually did nothing to help in the kitchen. In fact, I had no desire to cook much of anything until I had my own apartment in college. I didn't really learn to cook until I got married and I am still learning a great deal about cooking.

I have to wonder though if my mom had done "cool" things like teach us how to make butter if I would have been more interested in cooking. I suppose I'll never know, but it has made me think about homeschooling and the kinds of things I want to teach my children.

I think being domestic is a lost art. My Sicilian great grandmother made the best pizza I've ever tasted. It saddens me that I will probably never know how to make it. My grandmother was an award winning quilter (well not sure about award winning, but I know she was heavily involved in the quilting scene) and I have no idea how to quilt. Why? What other family talents were missed because I was too busy learning calculus? I'm not saying calculus isn't important, but why isn't the same kind of importance placed on all things domestic?

I want my children to be able to grow, can and cook their own food. I want them to know how to use a sewing machine and serger. I want them to be able to build structures and want them to know other practical skills to use throughout their lives.

Being domestic is nothing to hide from or find shame in. I love the fact that I make my own laundry detergent. It is easy and works great. I love that my child wore two diapers that I made today and they didn't leak or sag. Some of my daughter's favorite skirts are ones that I made with leftover quilting material that had been given to my mother. I am looking forward to sharing my love of the "everyday" with my children and hope that they learn to appreciate the skills of all of the women (and men) before them.

Cleaning Products

I love vinegar and baking soda and use them in place of every other household cleaning product I've ever owned.

I use vinegar to disinfect my sink and kitchen counter tops, microwave, bathroom, floors and anything else that needs cleaning. Vinegar is great for washing windows and leaves no streaks when wiped off with newspaper. I use undiluted vinegar in a spray bottle, but some use a 50/50 mix with water. When I first started cleaning with vinegar, I couldn't stand the smell and had to use essential oils in the spray bottle as well. Vinegar becomes odorless once it dries and now that I'm used to the smell, I only use essential oil if I happen to have some on hand from other projects.

For harder to clean things like my stove top and cast iron tub, I use baking soda and vinegar. Baking soda is great for scrubbing and very cheap.

I use homemade laundry detergent to clean our clothes. It's nice to know exactly what is in the detergent and it's extremely cost-effective. I use vinegar as a fabric softener and think it's great. I never have static issues either, but that might be because the clothes typically stay in the dryer for awhile. My cleaning products might be efficient, but I am not when it comes to laundry.

I would like to replace my dishwasher detergent with something homemade, but have not started looking for recipes.

If you want more ideas on how to clean with vinegar, check these out:

Compost Bin

I am amazed at how little we throw away. We made about the easiest compost bin ever and it works great. My husband cut some chicken wire, tied it together to form a circle and then used zip ties to attach it to a corner of our fence. That's it. Low cost and very simple.

Five Years and Counting

It took me a long time to get to be "Mother Earth" as my mom calls me.
The first small change we made was to get rid of plastics. We took down our plastic mini blinds, which I am finally almost finished replacing. We also tossed all plastic kitchen utensils and storage containers. It's true, I do not use any form of Gladware. I do, however, still use plastic freezer bags. I try to use them minimally, but for as much as I cook and freeze, glass storage is just not always practical.
We also started reading the labels on baby toys. Anything that was going to be played with by our daughter had to be phthalate free. We still stay away from the cheap toys as much as possible and almost everything that goes into the baby's mouth is wooden or cloth.
Around the time that we started paying attention to baby toys, we also switched to cloth diapers. I love cloth and can now sew diapers. I don't mind the extra laundry and poop in cloth is not a big deal. We've probably saved thousands of diapers from going into a landfill and have saved ourselves a great deal of money.
When plastics and diapers were conquered, we moved on to safe cleaners. I use baking soda and vinegar to clean. I'm not fond of scrubbing the cast iron tub, in fact it's embarrassingly dirty right now, so I still use Scrubbing Bubbles. Vinegar works on the floors, counters, sink, etc. It's also great on salads and you can't say that about the Scrubbing Bubbles. I also make my own laundry detergent for our front loader. I use two bars of grated Ivory, two small boxes of baking soda and two cups of washing soda. It only takes one tablespoon of the detergent to clean a load of clothes.
I have attempted to make my own natural body care products, but I have given up temporarily. The homemade deodorant worked okay, but I didn't like wrestling it out of the jar and smearing it on my pits. Gross and time consuming. I have opted to only use deodorant when I'm going to be somewhere that I might sweat. Like the doctor's office with three kids in tow. I tried using baking soda and apple cider vinegar for my hair and I didn't like the smell. Kiss My Face makes a wonderful lime smelling conditioner that I love. It is without all of the nasty ingredients so I'm happy and so it my nose. I am currently on the look out for fluoride-free toothpaste, but I've only looked at Target. I want to mention too that I try to buy most things that are fragrance free and free and clear. I don't wear perfume or smelly lotions. Or make-up for that matter because it's full of ingredients that I can't pronounce.
Another thing we've learned how to do is buy in bulk, buy on sale, buy in season and buy local whenever possible. We pay attention to ads and don't buy things like fresh strawberries in the middle of winter. If potatoes are on sale, we buy 15-30 lbs of them. We walk the delicate line between buying organic and local and buying in bulk. Sometimes it's just not cost effective to buy organic food and I'm okay with that.
We have a huge garden every summer and learn more each year. We grow our own squash, tomatoes, green beans, broccoli, greens (kale, lettuce, swish chard), snap peas, carrots, radishes, beets, peppers, celery (new this year, we'll see how it does) and herbs (also new this year). We will be planting an apple tree, a cherry tree, a pear tree and a plum tree this year. We pick apples from a family's tree in the fall and use them throughout the winter. I plan to learn how to can this year. Actually, I know how to can, it's just a matter of doing it.
We buy our meat in bulk. Our beef is from a local rancher who doesn't feed his cows crap. Our pork is from a local farm that is working on its organic certification. Bacon is a hot commodity in our house and never makes it to the table. We dig the pig. We use whole chickens. Some are from a friend who raised them for us and some are from the grocery store. I curse daily at the fact that I can't have chickens in my back yard. I would love fresh eggs. Sigh.
I make big batches of food and freeze it according to how it will be used. I have seven freezer bags of pulled chicken and tons of chicken, beef and ham stock. I always double pancake and waffle recipes so that I have some to freeze. I freeze muffins, cupcakes, banana bread, etc. I also soak an entire bag of beans, use what I need and freeze the rest for later. I have frozen bags of sliced and peeled apples that are waiting to be turned into applesauce and apple butter. I try not to waste anything and have even started saving steak bones to use for making stock.
I love making my own bread and use the dough for everything. I have started making my own tortillas. I cook with lard, coconut oil and olive oil. I read a lot about food and cooking and it's a constant work in progress. Overall, we buy very few things from the store that are boxed or canned. I feel good when I look at the dinner table and see that everything was made by me. If you would have asked me five years ago to make my own salsa or tortillas, I would have laughed in your face and said that there was no way I had the time. Three kids, a dog and four rabbits later, I have the time because I've learned how to do it.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

I make a big batch of this bread dough at least every other day. I love this recipe and find myself using it for just about everything. I've made:
Monkey bread
Cinnamon rolls
Pretzels
Pull apart rolls: I have no idea what these are called. I rolled up little balls of dough, put them all in a pan, covered them in melted butter and herbs and baked.
Pizza
Stromboli
Apple turnovers
Flat bread topped with caramelized onions, garlic and Parmesan cheese
Bagels
Doughnuts
Hamburger or hot dog buns
Tortillas: I fried these and they were okay, but real homemade tortillas are much better
And almost anything that calls for a yeast dough. I am still trying to find a great sandwich bread dough so if you know of something, please share.

Fruit Trees

We planted several fruit trees this year and were pleasantly surprised to find fruit. The kids split the cherry and we'll see what happens with the pears.

Lemonade

We made a very good batch of lemonade today.

Juice of 4 lemons
3 quarts of water
1 C sugar

That's it.

Herbs and Lettuce

I harvested some parsley and mint and hung them to dry. I like the way the hanging herbs look in my kitchen. Maeve tells me several times a day that I am going to make her mint rot. I've tried explaining, but I've resigned myself to nodding and just agreeing with her.

I also picked the last of our lettuce and some swiss chard. I blanched the chard and stuck it in the freezer to use in soups later.


The rest of the garden looks good. I'm disappointed with the kale, cabbage and peas this year. We've got lots of green tomatoes, tall carrot tops and some peppers. My winter squash plants are huge and the pumpkin has taken off even though we planted it in a bunch of weeds.

Tomorrow (I hope) I will be planting strawberries in a newly built raised bed. The plants were free and I had intended on planting them elsewhere, but Mathew had other ideas. I can't wait until next summer.

Welcome

I have spent the last six years trying to live more simply. Welcome to my journey.

Simple Lives Thursday

Here's the explanation from a blog called A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa:

Hi everyone! I'm so excited!! It's the very first edition of Simple Lives Thursday! Below you'll find the linky to add your post to. Remember you can add your link on any of the four hosting blogs. Remember to link to this post from your blog for this week. Annette from Sustainable Eats is on vacation but she'll be back next week :D

1. A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa
2. Sustainable Eats
3. GNOWFGLINS
4. Culinary Bliss

Wherever you choose to post, it will show up on all 4 sites! I can't wait to dive in and learn from all of you! As a reminder, this blog hop is a way to share with many people your posts on what you are doing to live a simple life. Whether that's gardening, raising urban chickens, making your own deodorant, or cleaning supplies... we want to know about it! If you're into homeopathy, ways to save $ by conserving energy or other ways to live frugally... we want to know about it! If you bike, cook real food, homestead or farm... we want to know about it!

So let's get this thing going!



Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Menu Planning

I am thinking about the delicious food I'm going to make tomorrow and thought I'd share about how I plan our meals.

First, we buy our meat in bulk. We have one large upright freezer and two fridge/freezers that we fill with beef and pork. It's nice not having to worry about meat when I plan our meals and I like knowing that I'm almost close enough to hear our cow moo.

Second, I plan meals according to the local grocery store ad and whatever is ready to be harvested in the garden. I love the farmer's market, but hate the crowd so I don't buy as much local produce as I probably should. I'm also not a fan of going several places for groceries because that requires a lot more work and planning on my part. Maybe someday.

Third, I take an inventory of our cupboards and freezers before we shop. Honestly, I've been a bit lacking in this area and my main freezer is so full that I have no idea what is in it. At least I know we have food, right?

This is my basic weekly outline:

Monday: pasta
Tuesday: We usually eat out with our extended family
Wednesday: tacos
Thursday: soup
Friday/Sat: This is our weekend so I don't usually plan anything
Sunday: breakfast

It has helped greatly to have a vague idea of what I need to cook so that even if I'm being lazy and don't plan a menu, I know that I will cook a pasta dish on Monday.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Bobby, Blankety and the Giant Big Bug

I slept with my baby blanket for twenty five years.

I thought it would be sweet to buy the very same blankets for Maeve when she was a newborn. At some point, she refused to sleep without me so I started putting my blanket next to her so she could smell me. She adopted "Bobby" and shaped all of her blankets into a ball that she called her "giant big ladybug". The ladybug had to be shaped just right and Maeve was the only one able to do it. Maeve eventually lost interest in her "bug" so I reclaimed my blanket.

Then baby number two came along, Finn. I bought another set of baby blankets for him, only they were blue in color. He didn't care about blankets until he saw mine. Finn adores "Blankety". He self soothed with the blanket by creating holes with his fingers and thumbs. My poor, dear blanket has been loved so much that there is a hole the size of Finn right in the middle of it. I will never get my blanket back.

Oren sort of got the shaft because my blanket will never bring him comfort. It does, however, bring him a great deal of joy when he yanks it out of Finn's arms. Oren has his own blanket, yellow, that he snuggles with at naptime and bedtime.

And, for the record, I have one more color set of blankets just in case. Green.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

New Buns

Meet Bowling Pin (left) and Flower (right). They two month old Californians.

They have been upgraded to a very large, wonderful outdoor hutch.