I wore myself out this weekend. It was a good weekend but I am tired. As I finally sit down to type I realize how very weary I feel but I got a lot accomplished. School begins in 18 days and I have mixed feelings on the matter. I am excited for thestructure. It wasn’t until my kids went to school that I realized how well they respond to a stable, structured schedule. It helps me too because most things are predictable and schedule-able. It’s a word…maybe.
Anyhoo ~ I also want them around some kids. They are so friend/people/kid deprived they’re starting to make me nuts. They can’t for the life of them find anything to do so keep themselves busy. The angst is escalating and we’re all pooped. I am notlooking forward to the homework. Homework is one of those things that make me wonder how a family does everything that needs done with more than 2 kids in the family. Perhaps other peoples kids are so different than mine that it does work. Maybe I’m morehands on. Doesn’t matter but I do wonder.
Leads me to the purpose of this post.
I COOKED/BAKED MY BRITCHES OFF THIS WEEKEND!!!
I shopped until I was broke and then put most of it together. Here’s what I made:
2 loaves applesauce bread
Froze 60 pigs in a blanket
Chocolate/chocolate muffins
Chocolate Chips
Butterscotch Chips
Froze 3 lbs Marinated in Teriyaki Sauce Chicken
Froze 2 lbs Marinated Lemon Pepper Sauce Chicken
Yeast Rolls
Prepared and Froze 30 individual Calzone Dough-rounds for either Calzones (duh..) or grilled pizza
What’s left:
Address a sack of potatoes (I see French fries and cubed, buttered and spiced potatoes in our future)
Address the big thing of strawberries
Cut up the lettuce for salads
Sort out and bag the Pork Chops (5 lbs worth)
Sort out and bag/burger the hamburger (I have 10 lbs to address)
And I think that is it. WHEW!! It doesn’t seem like a lot when you list it out like that but MAN I was tired. The cocoa powder rebelled at some point and with a poofy brown cloud coated me, the floor and my work space. I had to mop after that becauseit was just a big mess. I went through 5 lbs of flour, a dozen eggs, LOTS of sugar, 2 lbs butter and all the saran wrap I had left. I just shopped and now need to restock. Do anything MARATHON related this weekend???
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
All Greased Up!!
My coconut oil showed up a few days after the vanilla beans and I am getting DOWN with my almost-going-organic-paying-more-attention-to-the-natural-side-of-things-self. I made a foot scrub with some of the coconut oil. I tinkered around online and found www.simplehomemade.net/ and this woman is a new hero of mine. SO creative, and informative. I learned many things from her and am smelling terrific.
Here’s what I did…..toss some sugar, regular ole granulated white sugar, some coconut oil (or canola, or olive or grapeseed) oil and a few splashes of an essential Oil. I used lavender and Grapefruit…separate of course, not brave enough yet to mix and waste something that comes out smelling like a big fat headache.
I worked this stuff into my skin during a nice, relaxing shower and felt like a million bucks. The oil soaks into the skin in a timely manner so while I call this post ‘All Greased Up’, I am not greasy at all. My feet are in bad shape because I run bare footed as often as I can so yeah, I leave a lot to desire in the foot department. My toes are good, always painted and trimmed and pretty, just don’t turn those puppies over. I got Jekyll and Hyde feet!!!
My kids also had gross pigs from a dry, dusty weekend of playing outside so I threw them into the tub and scrubbed them from head to toe. They were put out with me but you gotta deep clean every so often and only a mothers love and her homemade scrubcan do the job well. What about you? Make any homemade products?? What do you use for fragrance? I like the idea of essential oil but struggle a little with the STRONG scent and apparently I am a ‘sweet smeller’ because I find it’s not sweet enough. Makeany sense at all? What do you use? DO TELL….
Okay I put this picture at the bottom so as not scare you. But you can't talk about exfoliating the feet without a disgusting visual of gross pigs!! These feet are not so much gross as they are weird. Looks like weird baby fingers griping the deck. I also wanna say THESE FEET ARE NOT MINE! I promise. I'd never lie to you about such a thing or anything for that matter.
Here’s what I did…..toss some sugar, regular ole granulated white sugar, some coconut oil (or canola, or olive or grapeseed) oil and a few splashes of an essential Oil. I used lavender and Grapefruit…separate of course, not brave enough yet to mix and waste something that comes out smelling like a big fat headache.
I worked this stuff into my skin during a nice, relaxing shower and felt like a million bucks. The oil soaks into the skin in a timely manner so while I call this post ‘All Greased Up’, I am not greasy at all. My feet are in bad shape because I run bare footed as often as I can so yeah, I leave a lot to desire in the foot department. My toes are good, always painted and trimmed and pretty, just don’t turn those puppies over. I got Jekyll and Hyde feet!!!My kids also had gross pigs from a dry, dusty weekend of playing outside so I threw them into the tub and scrubbed them from head to toe. They were put out with me but you gotta deep clean every so often and only a mothers love and her homemade scrubcan do the job well. What about you? Make any homemade products?? What do you use for fragrance? I like the idea of essential oil but struggle a little with the STRONG scent and apparently I am a ‘sweet smeller’ because I find it’s not sweet enough. Makeany sense at all? What do you use? DO TELL….
Okay I put this picture at the bottom so as not scare you. But you can't talk about exfoliating the feet without a disgusting visual of gross pigs!! These feet are not so much gross as they are weird. Looks like weird baby fingers griping the deck. I also wanna say THESE FEET ARE NOT MINE! I promise. I'd never lie to you about such a thing or anything for that matter.
Ugly As Homemade Soap
Did you laugh? I did! Ha! Homemade soap is ugly but I found a wonderful, local woman who makes homemade goat milk soap and she’s got them as prettied up as you can get ugly soap. They are natural and wonderful and I feel terrific after a shower so I forgivethe appearance. The soap I am referring to is laundry detergent. I got a wild hair Friday and decided to try and save a few bucks by exploring this idea. Come to find out it’s a NEW HOT TREND.
I am not trendy. I don’t like trendy. I don’t strive to be trendy. I don’t get on PINTEREST at all but a good friend and reliable source tells me it’s a buzz out there….so. I found a recipe and the jury is still out on this stuff. I am pretty sureI know where my problems with the soap lie, but need to consider a few things before I make a change or go back to the Tide Pods.
1st of all, my DRYER BROKE!!! I actually have 2 dryers. One that’s needing the heating element addressed and the other, an inheritance from my grandma. It’s electric and we’re gaspeople so some finagling needs to be done before this dryer can work. So for the last 2 weeks, everything has been line dried. Even the socks are crunchy!!! I’ll share the recipe and then blather on some more.
1 bar ivory soap, grated
1 cup borax
1 cup arm and hammer soap wash
Tea tree essential Oil
I call it ‘ugly soap’.
I used 2 scoops of ugly in each load, line dried the laundry and voila!! Another week’s worth of laundry bites the dust. I made a TON of this ugly stuff and the supplies total (minus the oil) was just under $10. So considering the cost of my beloved TidePods, I was thrilled at the savings!! But I’m having some issues. Of course. All I seem to have at times are issues.
THE EXPERIMENT: A Smell Test. I know that’s weird but I can’t help it. I don’t want my laundry to smell like I dipped it into a stream, used ugly homemade soap and beat the stuff on a rock. I washed a load of clothes in my ugly soap and a loadwith a Tide Pod and line dried them. Both sets of clothes had a smell…but not of a fresh laundry detergent; it was kinda gamey. Like an earthy, outdoor smell. Not sure I am a fan of this smell because I notice it during the day. I turn my head and thereit is..essence of outdoorsy people…..but is it the ugly soap or the line drying. Hence the experiment.
THE RESULT: I am not sure of the source of the smell and if it has anything to do with the detergent as the ugly soap and the pods yielded the same outdoorsy fragrance. Could be the absence of the dryer is allowing me to get in touch with my innerpioneer self and I am more spoiled and pampered than I realized. The jury is still out.
Other Problems: Lent!! The Hubby’s black work pants need a serious date with a lent brush.. At first we thought it was detergent that didn’t wash out but that was not the case. Bravo to the soap. My dish cloths and towels aremisshapen but I am willing to overlook that as I do not wear dish cloths or towels. This could also be the absence of the dryer causing me grief. One final item of note is the appearance of some items to be barely clean to illustrate, Jacksonhad a MAJOR NOSE BLEED and soaked a wash cloth. I know it’s gross but we figure it out. Anyhoo this rag sat waiting to be laundered for about a week. Hubby found it and ran it under some warm water and squeeze excess water out in an attempt to salvage thething. I used the ugly soap and laundered and it was still gross. Now again, is this the fault of the soap or is it just a neglected rag soaked in blood and my laziness AND no dryer…?
So help a girl out, do you make homemade detergent? Do you use essential oil in the mix? I did and it has a smell to it that I am not completely finding completely satisfying. It’s STRONG. I love the fragrance of tea tree which I used in one of the batchesof soap and it’s just STRONG and not as sweet as I am used to. Perhaps it’s the difference between fragrance and true oil.
I am not trendy. I don’t like trendy. I don’t strive to be trendy. I don’t get on PINTEREST at all but a good friend and reliable source tells me it’s a buzz out there….so. I found a recipe and the jury is still out on this stuff. I am pretty sureI know where my problems with the soap lie, but need to consider a few things before I make a change or go back to the Tide Pods.
1st of all, my DRYER BROKE!!! I actually have 2 dryers. One that’s needing the heating element addressed and the other, an inheritance from my grandma. It’s electric and we’re gaspeople so some finagling needs to be done before this dryer can work. So for the last 2 weeks, everything has been line dried. Even the socks are crunchy!!! I’ll share the recipe and then blather on some more.
1 cup borax
1 cup arm and hammer soap wash
Tea tree essential Oil
I call it ‘ugly soap’.
I used 2 scoops of ugly in each load, line dried the laundry and voila!! Another week’s worth of laundry bites the dust. I made a TON of this ugly stuff and the supplies total (minus the oil) was just under $10. So considering the cost of my beloved TidePods, I was thrilled at the savings!! But I’m having some issues. Of course. All I seem to have at times are issues.
THE EXPERIMENT: A Smell Test. I know that’s weird but I can’t help it. I don’t want my laundry to smell like I dipped it into a stream, used ugly homemade soap and beat the stuff on a rock. I washed a load of clothes in my ugly soap and a loadwith a Tide Pod and line dried them. Both sets of clothes had a smell…but not of a fresh laundry detergent; it was kinda gamey. Like an earthy, outdoor smell. Not sure I am a fan of this smell because I notice it during the day. I turn my head and thereit is..essence of outdoorsy people…..but is it the ugly soap or the line drying. Hence the experiment.
Other Problems: Lent!! The Hubby’s black work pants need a serious date with a lent brush.. At first we thought it was detergent that didn’t wash out but that was not the case. Bravo to the soap. My dish cloths and towels aremisshapen but I am willing to overlook that as I do not wear dish cloths or towels. This could also be the absence of the dryer causing me grief. One final item of note is the appearance of some items to be barely clean to illustrate, Jacksonhad a MAJOR NOSE BLEED and soaked a wash cloth. I know it’s gross but we figure it out. Anyhoo this rag sat waiting to be laundered for about a week. Hubby found it and ran it under some warm water and squeeze excess water out in an attempt to salvage thething. I used the ugly soap and laundered and it was still gross. Now again, is this the fault of the soap or is it just a neglected rag soaked in blood and my laziness AND no dryer…?
So help a girl out, do you make homemade detergent? Do you use essential oil in the mix? I did and it has a smell to it that I am not completely finding completely satisfying. It’s STRONG. I love the fragrance of tea tree which I used in one of the batchesof soap and it’s just STRONG and not as sweet as I am used to. Perhaps it’s the difference between fragrance and true oil.
Dinner Menu August 1 - 12
Marathon Cooking yielded some wonderful results. Here is my dinner *plan* for the next 2 weeks. The last 2 menu plans have had a day or 2 here and there which we do not follow but THINGS HAPPEN, right!? A * next to the food name denotes somethingfrozen and ready to go!!
Wednesday, August 1
Root Beer Pulled Pork*, Mashed Potatoes*
Thursday, August 2
Tenderloins* and Fries*
Friday, August 3
Grilled Burgers*, Tossed Salad
Saturday, August 4
Hawaiian Ka- Bobs (chicken*), Green Beans*, Grilled Bread
Sunday, August 5
Popcorn Chicken*, French Fries*
Monday, August 6
Breakfast 4 Dinner (Bacon*)
Tuesday, August 7
Chicken and Rice Casserole*
Wednesday, August 8
Spaghetti*, Garlic Bread*
Thursday, August 9
Taco Buffet*, Chips and Salsa
Friday, August 10
Chicken* Salad Sammies, Tater Salad*
Saturday, August 11
Turkey Bacon* Club Sammies, Chips, Veggies and Dip
Sunday, August 12
Grilled Steak*, Veggies, Grilled Bread
Wednesday, August 1
Root Beer Pulled Pork*, Mashed Potatoes*
Thursday, August 2
Tenderloins* and Fries*
Friday, August 3
Grilled Burgers*, Tossed Salad
Saturday, August 4
Hawaiian Ka- Bobs (chicken*), Green Beans*, Grilled Bread
Sunday, August 5
Popcorn Chicken*, French Fries*
Monday, August 6
Breakfast 4 Dinner (Bacon*)
Tuesday, August 7
Chicken and Rice Casserole*
Wednesday, August 8
Spaghetti*, Garlic Bread*
Thursday, August 9
Taco Buffet*, Chips and Salsa
Friday, August 10
Chicken* Salad Sammies, Tater Salad*
Saturday, August 11
Turkey Bacon* Club Sammies, Chips, Veggies and Dip
Sunday, August 12
Grilled Steak*, Veggies, Grilled Bread
Mmmm...Vanilla
LOOKIE HERE!! In an earlier post, I mentioned my desire to make homemade vanilla. Well I got the Beans in the mail which, BTW smelled terrific. Vanilla candles can’t hold a …uh..candle?? to the smell of natural vanilla. I took 2 750 ML plastic bottles of vodka, dumped some out to make room for the sliced beans and VOILA!!! Igive a shake once a day and it’s very very brown. I just can’t wait!! I think around Thanksgiving I’ll start the process of straining and bottling. I have 2 people in my cross hairs to given small bottles as Christmas gifts. Make your own Vanilla….? Tell me….
Table vs Sea Salt
Which is better? Neither. That’s it! That’s my post for the day.
Just kidding.
I asked this question because while browsing through Naturally Yours Grocery store, I noticed you can get a pound or sea salt for $1.68. Good price. I can also go to Aldi and get a pound of table salt for change. So it begs the question, is Sea Saltsomehow healthier? Better??? According to mayoclinic.com chemically there is no difference between the 2. Watch the sodium intake no matter which product yousubscribe to but know this. Iodine is a big deal, especially to your thyroid. If you do not eat decent amounts of the following foods, you could put yourself at risk for low iodine and therefore a few random (yet fixable) health problems.
Iodine Needs: 150 Micrograms (mgc) daily for anyone over age 14.
Foods rich in iodine:
Sea Vegetables including Kelp, Arame, Hiziku, Kombu, and Wakame. I’ve heard of Kelp and that’s because I secretly love Spongebob and he eats a cereal called Kelp-o.
1 tablespoon of kelp contains 2000 mgc. WOW! Watch the kelp intake; I’m sure it will be a significant loss for ya.
Cranberries - 4 ounces contains 400 mgc
Organic Yogurt – 1 cup contains 90 mgc. What about Yoplait??
Organic Navy Beans – ½ cup contains 32 mgc
Organic Strawberries – 1 cup contains 13 mgc
Himalayan Salt – 1 gram contains 500 mgc. I actually laughed out loud when I read that b/c REALLY!!! In trying to explain 2 types of salt I’ve introducedanother one!! OH NO!!
Dairy Products – 1 cup of milk contains 55 mgc
Potatoes – With the skin, a medium sized potato contains 60 mgc
So bottom line, if you do not eat some of these foods or eat a supplemental vitamin use regular ole cheap table salt. I gotta ask do any of you brilliant ladies use Himalayan Salt? Is this something that is going to start a new trend in the quest tobecome insanely organic and healthy??????
Just kidding.
I asked this question because while browsing through Naturally Yours Grocery store, I noticed you can get a pound or sea salt for $1.68. Good price. I can also go to Aldi and get a pound of table salt for change. So it begs the question, is Sea Saltsomehow healthier? Better??? According to mayoclinic.com chemically there is no difference between the 2. Watch the sodium intake no matter which product yousubscribe to but know this. Iodine is a big deal, especially to your thyroid. If you do not eat decent amounts of the following foods, you could put yourself at risk for low iodine and therefore a few random (yet fixable) health problems.
Iodine Needs: 150 Micrograms (mgc) daily for anyone over age 14.
Foods rich in iodine:Sea Vegetables including Kelp, Arame, Hiziku, Kombu, and Wakame. I’ve heard of Kelp and that’s because I secretly love Spongebob and he eats a cereal called Kelp-o.
1 tablespoon of kelp contains 2000 mgc. WOW! Watch the kelp intake; I’m sure it will be a significant loss for ya.
Cranberries - 4 ounces contains 400 mgc
Organic Yogurt – 1 cup contains 90 mgc. What about Yoplait??
Organic Navy Beans – ½ cup contains 32 mgc
Organic Strawberries – 1 cup contains 13 mgc
Himalayan Salt – 1 gram contains 500 mgc. I actually laughed out loud when I read that b/c REALLY!!! In trying to explain 2 types of salt I’ve introducedanother one!! OH NO!!
Dairy Products – 1 cup of milk contains 55 mgc
Potatoes – With the skin, a medium sized potato contains 60 mgc
So bottom line, if you do not eat some of these foods or eat a supplemental vitamin use regular ole cheap table salt. I gotta ask do any of you brilliant ladies use Himalayan Salt? Is this something that is going to start a new trend in the quest tobecome insanely organic and healthy??????
Friday, July 20, 2012
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