daily living
Green Cleaning TipsGreen Cleaning Tips In an effort to discover greener cleaning products, I have found that they don’t work as well on the toughest of dirt and grime. Not to mention that green cleaning product often times have a steep price tag comparatively to their caustic counter parts. This has had me on a mission to discover green cleaning methods that are effective and inexpensive. Two ingredients I have found to be the most consistently effective are hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar. Both are inexpensive, but I will warn that the smell of vinegar has taken some getting used to for me. As a little aside, I have been asked about cleaning products that claim they have oxygen based “bleaching” action. The fact is that these products contain natural ingredients that when mixed with water produce hydrogen peroxide. For this reason those products ARE safe and green, but demonstrates the effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide. One of the best assets of hydrogen peroxide as a cleaning agent is that it is not dangerous. The reason that it comes in brown bottles, is because when touched by light it changes into regular water. What could be safer than that? Here are a list of some of the methods I have found to be effective and the cost is PENNIES! · For the Bathtub & Shower stall: To remove soap scum use hydrogen peroxide and the netting from citrus fruit. Pour on the HP and allow to work for a few seconds before using the netting to scrub away the soap scum! Need to disinfect your bathtub or shower? Simply use a vinegar rinse before rinsing with water. · Toilet: Add 2 cups white vinegar to toilet with ½ cup baking soda. This will bubble and foam. Once the bubbling stops, scrub with brush as usual. Have stubborn hard water stains? Plunge as much water out of your toilet as possible. Pour 1 gallon of white vinegar into the toilet, scrub with brush, close lid, and allow to sit for 2 hours or overnight. Scrub once more and flush. · Sink: Sprinkle baking soda around sink. Pour or spray white vinegar. Allow to bubble for a few seconds. Use scrub brush or citrus netting to scrub clean. · Faucet: Soak a cleaning rag in white vinegar. Ring out. Wrap rag around faucet and secure with rubber bands. Leave on for 3-4 hours. Remove rag, and scrub the crannies with an old toothbrush. Then wipe clean with a clean dry rag. · Countertops: Mix hydrogen peroxide (about 1 cup) and white vinegar (about ½ cup) in spray bottle to clean and disinfect countertops or any surface. These are my thoughts.
~Contributing Writer
I'm Going Bananas!!!!I'm not kidding! I am seriously going bananas! I picked up a huge, huge, huge, (boy, do I wish I had a picture to show you), huge box of bananas at Save-a-Lots for $8.00. I gave a bunch to my father, the kids have eaten bunches and bunches, and my oldest daughter made batches and batches of banana bread. I am trying an experiment I heard about that said you could freeze bananas. I wrapped 12 bunches of bananas in aluminum foil, then put them into freezer bags. I read that the skins will turn black, but the bananas will stay good. I still have many bunches left!!!! Any banana recipes you would like to share?!? Please!!!! What a weekend!We had the most lovely 4th of July Weekend. God blessed us with incredible beautiful weather on Friday- mid-70’s and sunny. Simply gorgeous. We enjoyed a wonderful laid back day of visiting with friends and family, playing games and eating.
Photos: 1st- Mr. Steady manning the grill, 2nd- The food spread, 3rd- fun & games Homeschool Mission Statement
Now that I have a name for my homeschool I would like to write a homeschool mission statement. SarahMy little preemie is 8 months old! She weighs in at 15 pounds and 15 ounces!! Menu - a cheap week!
Notes: We have three gallon size bags of homemade port-a-pit chicken leftover from the 4th bash. I have frozen two bags for future use and am trying to think of interesting ways to use up the third bag without getting tired of chicken. Why not freeze the 3rd bag also? Well, it cuts down on my grocery budget this week- way down! Monday Monday Day Book #3
Outside my Window... I see a dark sky, grass and garden heavy with dew and the beginnings of a drizzling rain. I am thinking... that God is in control. Let go- Let God. I am thankful for... that God can. He very simply can and He will. From the kitchen... honey oatmeal bread is baking, the ingredients for supper are sitting on the counter. Leftover Red, White and Blue breakfast cake sits in a stoneware pan on the stove- ready for any snacky feelin’ fingers. I am creating...menu plans, library lists and school schedules. I am going...to our little library soon with the kiddos- our only planned trip for the day [we’ve switched errand day to tomorrow]. I am wearing... blue jean capris, a silly blue t-shirt with a big grinning fish on it and the words “God is Good” under it. My hair is up in a pony tail and my small, silver Celtic Cross necklace is around my neck- my prayer reminder for today. I am reading... The Island of Heavenly Daze series (book 3) by Lori Copeland & Angela Hunt, the new No Greater Joy Magazine, and perhaps I’ll pick up something else at the library. I am hoping... for a good day. I am hearing... water dripping off the eaves, Mr. Conductor playing a train game, my girls working on their math, the hum of the computer. Around the house... we are still putting odds and ends away from our holiday weekend. We plan to have the house “set to rights” by this afternoon.
One of my favorite things... hugs and kisses from my kidlets.
Blueberry Lemon Bundt CakeEmily made this yummy blueberry lemon cake last night. I had purchased some organic frozen blueberries from Azure and we used those. The cake was not only delicious but pretty too
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Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake
Crystal Miller
1 cup butter
1 ¾ cups cane juice crystals
4 eggs
2 T lemon juice
¼ t lemon extract
1 t vanilla
2 ¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour
¼ t baking powder
¼ t salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 ¼ cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, tossed with 1 T ww pastry flour
Glaze
1 ½ cups powdered sucanat (powdered sugar would work too)
3 T lemon juice
1 T maple syrup
In a mixer combine butter and cane juice crystals and beat until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add lemon juice, lemon extract, and vanilla and mix until all is well combined.
In a smaller bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add this to the butter/cane juice crystal mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Mixing well after each addition. When all is combined mix for 2 more minutes.
Fold in blueberries. Grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan. Spoon batter into pan. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until a toothpick or fork inserted in the center comes out clean.
When the cake has finished baking let it cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Then run a knife around the edges of the pan to make sure it is loosened. Put a dinner plate over the top of the pan and flip the cake over so it is sitting on the dinner plate. Allow to cool completely.
To make glaze, mix all ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Drizzle glaze over the completely cooled cake... serve and enjoy!
 A Simple Woman's Daybook For Today
Monday, July 7, 2008
Outside my Window...all sunshine and clear blue skies! I see the canopy with tables and chairs still under it from our big Independence Day celebration on the farm.
I am thinking...about the blood drive today and everything that I need to take with me.
I am thankful for...the sunshine and summer weather. It doesn't last long enough!
I am creating... platters and trays and plates of cookies for the blood drive and fresh lemonade.
From the kitchen... leftovers from last night's party.
I am going... to make appointments for our new pup and our sick kitty at the Vet's office.
I am reading...my donor list.
I am hoping...that I will feel better as the day goes on. I woke up very dizzy and sick. I haven't had these symptoms (to this severity) since the winter. It's a little discouraging when you think you're better and find out otherwise. I'm praying for strength for the next couple of important days. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me...
I am hearing...the puppy playing in his "toddler" play yard. :-)
Around the house... fresh flowers in mason jars (which were arranged on our tables yesterday). Everything is clean and tidy. It's great to have company!
One of my favorite things...Shabby Chic/Vintage finds at a sale (see picture below)
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Blood Drive, 4-H judging,
Help a friend create a web business for her clothing business, garden work, R-E-L-A-X- by the pool. :-)
A picture thought to share for the day...
 Please stop by to visit Peggy to peek into the lives of other "Simple Women," and to read the guidelines for creating your own Daybook!
Budget Talk and More…Tightening the budget belt has been on my mind lately. With the cost of gas continuing to go up as well as the cost of food and other items it is requiring an extra degree of thought to how the money is spent. One of the things I have been doing is instituting a “No Leftovers” policy. In the past if I had a few leftovers from a dinner I would not think to much of it. But now I have started to scale down how much food I make (especially with Leanne gone and Emily not always home for all meals) and make sure the kids eat what leftovers we have for lunch the next day… or I even serve them for dinner the next night if there are enough. I did this yesterday. I made Yummy Pinto Beans the day before and used 4 cups of dry beans (and a pound of hamburger added to the recipe) so it made a large pot of beans for us. We had enough for dinner last night too. I also will examine all leftovers that aren’t enough to serve a second time and see what new creation I can make from. Stir fry from leftover rice, chili over baked potatoes, goulash from a small amount of leftover spaghetti sauce, fried potato patties from leftover mashed potatoes, adding leftover pot roast to noodles or potatoes and adding a cream sauce to make a casserole. It is amazing how much I can save by thinking creatively with leftovers! I am also watching what I buy so it does not go to waste.. like too many tomatoes or fruit or whatever it may be. I am keeping my meals simple to make with a minimum amount of ingredients. So far my efforts have been noticeable on the budget! And I am still able to buy various organic products and still save.
The next area we looked at was how many cars we have on insurance policies that we don’t drive. My husband has a truck he only drives occasionally and we have a full size 12-passenger van we now only drive occasionally due to that $125 price tag at the gas pump fill up. So we talked with our insurance man and he said it was fine to put the cars on a comprehensive policy only as long as we are not driving them. IF we would want to drive them we just call the insurance company up and let them know we need the vehicle for the day and they adjust the policy for that day. The cost has been about $10 every 6 months for each vehicle.. which has been a huge savings. I have heard that not every insurance company will do this but I do know State Farm is one that will.
Driving with multiple purposes is also one way we are saving money. We live quite a ways from town so combining errands and shopping trips and not going into town more often than necessary is helping. Although things seem to come up some weeks that make this hard to do. So if I need to grocery shop I will also use that trip to go to the bank, the post office, combine the trip with appointments and so on. If Emily needs to go to the local college to take a CLEP test then afterwards we will grocery shop and I try and buy my gas at the lest expensive gas stations in the city when I am out rather than the more spendy ones that are closer to home.
In the home I am working harder at reusing as many things as possible like plastic zip bags or my bread bags. Also when I think I need something I stop and ask myself if there is something I already have that would work just as well. As an example a few weeks ago I made up a batch of homemade disinfectant cleaner and used some paper towels that my husband had sitting in the shop (he got them from cleaning out his dad’s house as normally I don’t buy paper towels). I needed a container to put them in but did not have one big enough to work. So instead I used a gallon size zip lock bag and have been reusing the bag since then. It works fine.
Another thing I already do to save us money is use cloth napkins. They are easy to make and I have a ton of them now. I purchased the fabric from Walmart on the $2 a yard table. I can get 50 napkins made for less than $3. I wash them once a week or so.
On the homestead:
Well my daughter’s trip to the west coast is almost over and I am happy to say I have had several opportunities to visit with her, Jonathan and my grandbaby Caden. We celebrated our holiday a few days early since Tobin had to work on the 4th. Here are a few pics of our time together…
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 Leanne sent us another letter.. I think she is feeling a bit homesick and that makes my mama heart sad for her. But I know this will be a wonderful experience when she looks back. She is a real homebody and I figured before she left she would have some difficult adjustments to make. So we continue to keep her in our prayers daily. We all are missing her so much. She has 6 weeks left to go and this week her team leaves for Egypt. I hope to have more pics from the Teen Missions website to post soon.
Hope you all are having a great holiday weekend on your homesteads!
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Leslie Valeska
Leslie Valeska is the lucky wife of Thomas.
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