Well,so I am reading Unglued, by Lysa Terkeurst. (In case you haven't seen me raving about it on facebook). This book has me nailed down to a TEE. It's all about learning to control your emotions and feelings so that you don't begin to ACT like a raving lunatic and embarrass yourself, and hurt those around you (both of which I am VERY prone to doing). I'm learning that I have quite the process ahead of me, but that I can change, and learn to exercise grace, peace, gentleness and self control... with a little help.
One of her chapters in her books mentions an illustration about being "That Mom". To quote her (pg. 70) she says, "You know, the one who.... joyfully reads aloud to her children without being sneaky and skipping pages. Yes, Her." She talks about our inner dialog and guilt trips we give ourselves as moms and wives. And labels that damage our self esteem and relationships with God and others- especially our husbands and kids. For me, my inner voice says, "You're not the mom who... keeps the house clean enough, reads to/plays games with/ spends enough time with her kids... has kids who are ALWAYS well behaved, well mannered, and clean; and who make all A's. Or for that matter, has ANY CLUE about what constitutes a good mom."
Well between browsing Pinterest last night, (Who knew banana peels rubbed on teeth makes a GREAT teeth whitener, and washing my towels in vinegar will get rid of the mildew smell? Those are your bonus tips for the day); I encountered an article that a friend had pinned, and it said, "Ten Manners Your Kids should Know before Age 5". It was like a car wreck that I couldn't pull myself away from watching. I HAD to click on it to see if I had measured up as a mom up to this point of my kids' lives. I was developing a pit in my stomach just thinking about opening the link. Dread filled my thoughts,and then it dawned on me. I was sticking a label on myself before I even clicked on the link. I realized what Lysa had been talking about in her book about not measuring up to "That Mom". And while my uber-slow computer opened the link, I was able to think through it, and say, "You know what, if my kids are not all on, on all ten points, it's OK. I'm still a good mom. I'm not going to listen to the enemy and beat myself up, no matter what this article says. My kids are sweet, compassionate, fun, funny, happy and loving. And, like I tell them every night, I'm proud of them, and God is too." And, like Lysa quotes "The Help" in the book, I told myself, "'You is kind. You is smart. You is important.'" This was a little victory in my day. YAY! It puts me in a much better mood!
By the way, I was happy to find that my kids have at least quasi-mastered the ten manners. And I am proud of that. Now, maybe I should go whiten my teeth. But I might use my whitening kit instead of the banana peel. Unless one of you wants to pin a better method on my pinterest board.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
A meaty issue
Okay, so this isn't the most interesting topic in the world, but I think it does bear a moment of reflection and sharing if it will help someone else out.
In January, I started my lifestyle change, and read a book called, This Is Why You're Fat and How to Get Thin Forever, by Jackie Warner. I've said it before, and I'll say it again- it gave me a whole new perspective on food, sugar, meats, etc. While my diet for the summer is out the window, I will be hitting it again hard core as soon as my kids are back in school and I can make a decent effort without being derailed hourly.
ANYWAY, there are some really eye opening moments in the book, it's very easy to read and understand, and her plan is fairly practical in that she tells you what you CAN eat instead of only telling you what you can't. That being said- I should mention that I do NOT abide by this book strictly, or even wholly, as it is pretty hardcore, and I simply do not possess that type of will power.
To some of you who are thin, fit, and nutrition experts, the insights in the book would be a no brainer, but being that I am none of the above- I really did learn some new stuff. One of the things I learned about and have been trying gradually revamp (among other things) in our household is the quality of meat and poultry that we consume. I won't go into why- you've heard most of it, anyway, and if you want details, google and read the book. Bottom line, is the extra hormones in the meats are particularly damaging to the delicate balance of hormones that can cause fat stores in the human body- especially the female body.
Well, that fact right there was enough to convince me to at least TRY to change the protein parts of our diets- and the other facts boosted my motivation. I digress, and I said I wouldn't....
So, the challenge was- how do I incorporate grass-fed, hormone free beef and free range, hormone free poultry into our diets without breaking the bank? It took a little creativity, and yes my kids my slightly consider me stingy in the protein department, but I've found a couple ways.
Ground Beef:
First of all, if you eat ground beef in your household, you're probably using the bulk of it in dishes like spaghetti, lasagna, tacos, sloppy joes, meat loaf, etc. In my household, hamburgers on a bun are probably a once a month meal because they're so heavy, and yes, usually those are consumed at Burger Girl or In-n-Out Burger. So, I learned from another pinner on Pinterest- how to stretch the beef, so to speak.
Purchase 1-2 pounds of the ground beef of your choice (although this really makes you feel good when you go for the grass fed, free range good stuff). Slice up one onion, a red bell pepper, a green bell pepper, and grate about 3-4 carrots (I used my food processor and this is done in seconds). Brown the ground beef in a pan, and when it's close, toss in the vegetables. Now you've just doubled your "meat"- not to mention added some veggies that have extra nutrients. If you dice them small enough, your kids might not even notice, and my kids actually like my tacos, BETTER now. Once you've brown the beef mixture, allow it to cool and portion into freezer bags sized to portion for one of your families' meals. I can usually get at least 3 meals for our family of 4 from a 1 pound pkg of meat. Make sure you label the freezer bag with your date, and freeze. Waiting until the meat has cooled helps prevent ice crystals. When you're ready to cook, just pull out the meat mixture, add your favorite seasonings, reheat in a saute pan and serve. I LOVE this. It saves me so much time, money and gets my family eating proper sized meat portions and veggies to boot (veggies are also usually inexpensive- or free if you have a garden). I have a container of home-made taco seasoning in my pantry, or you can add Italian seasoning, sloppy joe sauce, tomato sauce- whatever floats your boat. Depending on the meal- this makes for a 15 min or less meal.
Poultry
On a side note, has anyone noticed how BIG the chicken breasts are? Especially if you're buying conventional- I guess all those added hormones grow them bigger. LOL. I can hear you all going there... anyway, for the chicken breasts, I take the large ones, slice them horizontally across the center (think butterflied) and then cut each of the butterflied filets in half- giving me four pieces of chicken to everyone one. The recommended serving portion is actually the size of a deck of cards, or 4 oz, and this actually brings it more in line. Who in the world needs to be eating 10-16 oz. of chicken anyway? I pop four to five of these pieces in a freezer bag- adding a marinade to each- teriyaki, bbq, italian, Bobby Flay spice rub, etc, and freeze them. The other day I didn't buy the fancy chicken, but regular- in the value pack- and managed to get 9 chicken meals out of the two value sized packs (for most families that would have been 4 meals). Now, I will say- Mason has complained that I'm being stingy with the chicken, but in my defense, I have added more veggies to the meals to make up for it, and we always have fruit after, so he should be good. I've also tried to implement eggs more into breakfast (and even dinner- see previous post), plus we have a pantry full of nuts, so lack of protein is not a problem.
Both of these ideas are also perfect for those who are single who want real food, but don't need to cook huge portions. Just freeze for your individuals' or families' needs, and you're good to go. Here's hoping this helps you stretch a buck, add some meals, and squeak in some veggies, too!
In January, I started my lifestyle change, and read a book called, This Is Why You're Fat and How to Get Thin Forever, by Jackie Warner. I've said it before, and I'll say it again- it gave me a whole new perspective on food, sugar, meats, etc. While my diet for the summer is out the window, I will be hitting it again hard core as soon as my kids are back in school and I can make a decent effort without being derailed hourly.
ANYWAY, there are some really eye opening moments in the book, it's very easy to read and understand, and her plan is fairly practical in that she tells you what you CAN eat instead of only telling you what you can't. That being said- I should mention that I do NOT abide by this book strictly, or even wholly, as it is pretty hardcore, and I simply do not possess that type of will power.
To some of you who are thin, fit, and nutrition experts, the insights in the book would be a no brainer, but being that I am none of the above- I really did learn some new stuff. One of the things I learned about and have been trying gradually revamp (among other things) in our household is the quality of meat and poultry that we consume. I won't go into why- you've heard most of it, anyway, and if you want details, google and read the book. Bottom line, is the extra hormones in the meats are particularly damaging to the delicate balance of hormones that can cause fat stores in the human body- especially the female body.
Well, that fact right there was enough to convince me to at least TRY to change the protein parts of our diets- and the other facts boosted my motivation. I digress, and I said I wouldn't....
So, the challenge was- how do I incorporate grass-fed, hormone free beef and free range, hormone free poultry into our diets without breaking the bank? It took a little creativity, and yes my kids my slightly consider me stingy in the protein department, but I've found a couple ways.
Ground Beef:
First of all, if you eat ground beef in your household, you're probably using the bulk of it in dishes like spaghetti, lasagna, tacos, sloppy joes, meat loaf, etc. In my household, hamburgers on a bun are probably a once a month meal because they're so heavy, and yes, usually those are consumed at Burger Girl or In-n-Out Burger. So, I learned from another pinner on Pinterest- how to stretch the beef, so to speak.
Purchase 1-2 pounds of the ground beef of your choice (although this really makes you feel good when you go for the grass fed, free range good stuff). Slice up one onion, a red bell pepper, a green bell pepper, and grate about 3-4 carrots (I used my food processor and this is done in seconds). Brown the ground beef in a pan, and when it's close, toss in the vegetables. Now you've just doubled your "meat"- not to mention added some veggies that have extra nutrients. If you dice them small enough, your kids might not even notice, and my kids actually like my tacos, BETTER now. Once you've brown the beef mixture, allow it to cool and portion into freezer bags sized to portion for one of your families' meals. I can usually get at least 3 meals for our family of 4 from a 1 pound pkg of meat. Make sure you label the freezer bag with your date, and freeze. Waiting until the meat has cooled helps prevent ice crystals. When you're ready to cook, just pull out the meat mixture, add your favorite seasonings, reheat in a saute pan and serve. I LOVE this. It saves me so much time, money and gets my family eating proper sized meat portions and veggies to boot (veggies are also usually inexpensive- or free if you have a garden). I have a container of home-made taco seasoning in my pantry, or you can add Italian seasoning, sloppy joe sauce, tomato sauce- whatever floats your boat. Depending on the meal- this makes for a 15 min or less meal.
Poultry
On a side note, has anyone noticed how BIG the chicken breasts are? Especially if you're buying conventional- I guess all those added hormones grow them bigger. LOL. I can hear you all going there... anyway, for the chicken breasts, I take the large ones, slice them horizontally across the center (think butterflied) and then cut each of the butterflied filets in half- giving me four pieces of chicken to everyone one. The recommended serving portion is actually the size of a deck of cards, or 4 oz, and this actually brings it more in line. Who in the world needs to be eating 10-16 oz. of chicken anyway? I pop four to five of these pieces in a freezer bag- adding a marinade to each- teriyaki, bbq, italian, Bobby Flay spice rub, etc, and freeze them. The other day I didn't buy the fancy chicken, but regular- in the value pack- and managed to get 9 chicken meals out of the two value sized packs (for most families that would have been 4 meals). Now, I will say- Mason has complained that I'm being stingy with the chicken, but in my defense, I have added more veggies to the meals to make up for it, and we always have fruit after, so he should be good. I've also tried to implement eggs more into breakfast (and even dinner- see previous post), plus we have a pantry full of nuts, so lack of protein is not a problem.
Both of these ideas are also perfect for those who are single who want real food, but don't need to cook huge portions. Just freeze for your individuals' or families' needs, and you're good to go. Here's hoping this helps you stretch a buck, add some meals, and squeak in some veggies, too!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Perfect Ratio
Even though I have ADD right now, and about 15 different topics and tirades are fighting for my attention (don't get me started on Chickfila)- I'm going to go ahead and write about the biggest news in our life right now.
Lately, I've been writing about money saving ideas, BUT I will say, this one is not it. Most of you know the joy, agony and love that our dog Foxy has brought us the last two years. And most of you have witnessed her level of- shall we say- PSCYHONESS and separation anxiety that has caused a lot of drama in our home. For the last two years, we've been hearing the same advice over and over- get another dog. Oh my. This is something I could not even wrap my brain around. NO. WAY. However, lately, the idea seemed to have taken on some merit, and I found myself searching around on the internet "out of curiosity". We all know where curiosity leads... but I digress.
Martin and I found ourselves discussing it more and more often, until all of the sudden- finding ourselves bored on a Saturday afternoon, we decided to head over to the Collin County Animal Shelter- "just to look". (To be fair, I told Martin before hand that 'we both know how this will end'). I had heard that the Collin County Animal Shelters (as well as other local shelters) had been running a summer special on certain adopted animals because of the limited air conditioned space- God help us all, it's summer in Texas. We deluded ourselves into believing that $25 for a vaccinated, fixed, micro-chipped animal would save us SO much money.
So, it took us approximately 30 minutes to head over and be reeled in by a slick talking volunteer.... she listened to our stories about Foxy and immediately had perfect recommendations for a boy dog- that could maybe not be too hyper, and balance things out a bit. She let us check them all out but two or three really stood out as sweet, sweet dogs that would work. Then we saw "Hartford" and he seemed so docile, and shy- I wondered if we had another great little actor on our hands. Turns out we spent some time secluded with him, and he warmed right up to Martin (which kind of surprised me- since he's usually the cat person), and played with the kids, and was so good. Honestly, and truly- a really calm, docile, but still playful, obedient (for the most part) dog. Again- I wondered if it was too good to be true. Since the shelter was closing in ten minutes, we decided to play the system a little, and keep him with us until closing time so no one would snap him up and that way we could mull it over overnight and get the supplies we needed.
We headed to Walmart- got the crate, necessary collar, leash, toys, etc and went home to "discuss" (but please note the order in which those actions were performed). Sunday morning, we jockeyed over to the animal shelter- ready to barrel down anyone who stood in the way of our new dog. We had narrowed the name down to either "Frisco" or "Ranger" (as in Texas Rangers). Once we got there, we decided Ranger, it is.
After some quick paperwork, "Hartford" became "Ranger" and was ours. He walked calmly out the front door with us, hopped into the back of my car, and laid down sweetly in the back hatch area. Martin and I were high fiving and our mouths were about to hit the floor. I kept saying over and over- "Maybe this is how it was SUPPOSED to be the first time"... not that we don't love Foxy, but FOR REAL. This is crazy.
At Petco, I basked in the glow of everyone stopping to tell me what a sweet dog he is... like a proud mama, and I had to agree with them.
Cut to 3 days later, and the transition has gone fairly well. Biggest issues are that the waiting list for fixing is 2 weeks, and being that we have a boy dog, and a (fixed) girl dog- well, you can imagine. Or maybe you can't- but I won't go into that... A few minor "tiffs" over a chew bone, and some basic potty and crate training issues- but all in all not bad. Foxy seems to "tolerate" him, and he LOVES Foxy. She seems a little annoyed that Ranger has rocked her Alpha Dog boat- but it needed to be done. He did scratch my toes the other day with his nails- when he wanted to play; and I'm not entirely sure, but I would say that Foxy- in true form- looked almost smug about it when I let out a yelp (almost as if I'd gotten what I'd deserved). What I HAVE learned is that Foxy is smart, and funny, and really sassy; Ranger is playful, docile and loyal. I appreciate all those qualities, so this works.
So, we enter life as a family of six, and I'm thinking the ratio is perfect.
Lately, I've been writing about money saving ideas, BUT I will say, this one is not it. Most of you know the joy, agony and love that our dog Foxy has brought us the last two years. And most of you have witnessed her level of- shall we say- PSCYHONESS and separation anxiety that has caused a lot of drama in our home. For the last two years, we've been hearing the same advice over and over- get another dog. Oh my. This is something I could not even wrap my brain around. NO. WAY. However, lately, the idea seemed to have taken on some merit, and I found myself searching around on the internet "out of curiosity". We all know where curiosity leads... but I digress.
Martin and I found ourselves discussing it more and more often, until all of the sudden- finding ourselves bored on a Saturday afternoon, we decided to head over to the Collin County Animal Shelter- "just to look". (To be fair, I told Martin before hand that 'we both know how this will end'). I had heard that the Collin County Animal Shelters (as well as other local shelters) had been running a summer special on certain adopted animals because of the limited air conditioned space- God help us all, it's summer in Texas. We deluded ourselves into believing that $25 for a vaccinated, fixed, micro-chipped animal would save us SO much money.
So, it took us approximately 30 minutes to head over and be reeled in by a slick talking volunteer.... she listened to our stories about Foxy and immediately had perfect recommendations for a boy dog- that could maybe not be too hyper, and balance things out a bit. She let us check them all out but two or three really stood out as sweet, sweet dogs that would work. Then we saw "Hartford" and he seemed so docile, and shy- I wondered if we had another great little actor on our hands. Turns out we spent some time secluded with him, and he warmed right up to Martin (which kind of surprised me- since he's usually the cat person), and played with the kids, and was so good. Honestly, and truly- a really calm, docile, but still playful, obedient (for the most part) dog. Again- I wondered if it was too good to be true. Since the shelter was closing in ten minutes, we decided to play the system a little, and keep him with us until closing time so no one would snap him up and that way we could mull it over overnight and get the supplies we needed.
We headed to Walmart- got the crate, necessary collar, leash, toys, etc and went home to "discuss" (but please note the order in which those actions were performed). Sunday morning, we jockeyed over to the animal shelter- ready to barrel down anyone who stood in the way of our new dog. We had narrowed the name down to either "Frisco" or "Ranger" (as in Texas Rangers). Once we got there, we decided Ranger, it is.
After some quick paperwork, "Hartford" became "Ranger" and was ours. He walked calmly out the front door with us, hopped into the back of my car, and laid down sweetly in the back hatch area. Martin and I were high fiving and our mouths were about to hit the floor. I kept saying over and over- "Maybe this is how it was SUPPOSED to be the first time"... not that we don't love Foxy, but FOR REAL. This is crazy.
At Petco, I basked in the glow of everyone stopping to tell me what a sweet dog he is... like a proud mama, and I had to agree with them.
Cut to 3 days later, and the transition has gone fairly well. Biggest issues are that the waiting list for fixing is 2 weeks, and being that we have a boy dog, and a (fixed) girl dog- well, you can imagine. Or maybe you can't- but I won't go into that... A few minor "tiffs" over a chew bone, and some basic potty and crate training issues- but all in all not bad. Foxy seems to "tolerate" him, and he LOVES Foxy. She seems a little annoyed that Ranger has rocked her Alpha Dog boat- but it needed to be done. He did scratch my toes the other day with his nails- when he wanted to play; and I'm not entirely sure, but I would say that Foxy- in true form- looked almost smug about it when I let out a yelp (almost as if I'd gotten what I'd deserved). What I HAVE learned is that Foxy is smart, and funny, and really sassy; Ranger is playful, docile and loyal. I appreciate all those qualities, so this works.
So, we enter life as a family of six, and I'm thinking the ratio is perfect.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Egg Night
One of the biggest challenges I face as a mom is figuring out a decent, inexpensive and quick meal to prepare when my husband is out of town. Usually these meals consist of pizza, cheese tortellinis with sauce, or frozen store bought foods. Being that I'm on a diet of late- that carby, carb, carb stuff is NOT what I need to be eating. So, while we still do it once a week usually, I learned a new meal trick thanks to one of my friends from church.
Many of you know my struggle with the Incredible Edible Egg. Ever since I started my lifestyle change in January, I have struggled with forcing down the recommended protein provided by eggs. I can honestly say, I've not been a fan since I was about five. Thanks to my husband's tutelage, I've been able to learn to cook a decent omelet, and I find that if I throw enough interesting stuff in there with the egg, I can handle it.
So, my friend said that she occasionally uses eggs as her "go to" meal. She serves her family a scrambled egg, with steamed organic frozen broccoli and frozen mango pieces on the side. I tried this, and it was actually a hit in my house. The fact that it took about 10 minutes (with minimal clean up) to prepare was a hit with me. Ever since then, I've added egg night to our menu about once a week when Martin is out of town. Sometimes we'll make egg tacos- basically scrambled eggs with salsa and cheese on a tortilla, other times it's just omelets.
Tonight, I decided to use this go to meal with a little variation based on what I had on hand in the fridge.
Here's what I used:
2 cukes from the garden
Homemade dressing (cider vinegar, honey, and oil with herbs)
feta cheese
3 eggs
leftover cooked sausage (you don't have to have a ton of it- I just used about 1-2 Tbsp per omelet)
1/3 bunch of kale, washed and torn
olive oil, salt, pepper
Parmesan cheese
Grapes
I sliced up the cukes from the garden, and added the leftover salad dressing I had made a while back, along with a shake of feta cheese. Meanwhile, I grabbed the kale that I had leftover that was washed, and torn into bite size pieces, coated it with Olive oil from my Misto sprayer, sprinkled it with pepper and parmesan cheese, and popped it in the oven at 375 degrees for 14 minutes. Then I made the boys omelets out of the sausage and cheese we have left over from breakfast the other day (I made my omelet sans sausage). Forget 30 minute meals- this was about a 15 minute meal. I have a pan, a bowl, and a cookie sheet to clean up.
My kids gobbled it down, because they love it all (they adore kale chips). Not pictured- we added some grapes for fruit, and topped the meal off with a scoop of low calorie vanilla ice cream on a cone (Coen had a home-made smoothie pop instead- more on that later) for dessert.
So, I didn't actually write down the prices on everything here because I didn't know I'd be writing this blog, but by my estimation, I fed the three of us tonight for approximately $2.50-3.00 at most (not including dessert). That would be less than $1.00 per person in less time than it would probably take me to run through the drive thru.
I'm full, they're full, and I don't feel really guilty for what we ate. For my money, this rocks. And the egg's not half bad either.
Many of you know my struggle with the Incredible Edible Egg. Ever since I started my lifestyle change in January, I have struggled with forcing down the recommended protein provided by eggs. I can honestly say, I've not been a fan since I was about five. Thanks to my husband's tutelage, I've been able to learn to cook a decent omelet, and I find that if I throw enough interesting stuff in there with the egg, I can handle it.
So, my friend said that she occasionally uses eggs as her "go to" meal. She serves her family a scrambled egg, with steamed organic frozen broccoli and frozen mango pieces on the side. I tried this, and it was actually a hit in my house. The fact that it took about 10 minutes (with minimal clean up) to prepare was a hit with me. Ever since then, I've added egg night to our menu about once a week when Martin is out of town. Sometimes we'll make egg tacos- basically scrambled eggs with salsa and cheese on a tortilla, other times it's just omelets.
Tonight, I decided to use this go to meal with a little variation based on what I had on hand in the fridge.
Here's what I used:
2 cukes from the garden
Homemade dressing (cider vinegar, honey, and oil with herbs)
feta cheese
3 eggs
leftover cooked sausage (you don't have to have a ton of it- I just used about 1-2 Tbsp per omelet)
1/3 bunch of kale, washed and torn
olive oil, salt, pepper
Parmesan cheese
Grapes
I sliced up the cukes from the garden, and added the leftover salad dressing I had made a while back, along with a shake of feta cheese. Meanwhile, I grabbed the kale that I had leftover that was washed, and torn into bite size pieces, coated it with Olive oil from my Misto sprayer, sprinkled it with pepper and parmesan cheese, and popped it in the oven at 375 degrees for 14 minutes. Then I made the boys omelets out of the sausage and cheese we have left over from breakfast the other day (I made my omelet sans sausage). Forget 30 minute meals- this was about a 15 minute meal. I have a pan, a bowl, and a cookie sheet to clean up.
My kids gobbled it down, because they love it all (they adore kale chips). Not pictured- we added some grapes for fruit, and topped the meal off with a scoop of low calorie vanilla ice cream on a cone (Coen had a home-made smoothie pop instead- more on that later) for dessert.
So, I didn't actually write down the prices on everything here because I didn't know I'd be writing this blog, but by my estimation, I fed the three of us tonight for approximately $2.50-3.00 at most (not including dessert). That would be less than $1.00 per person in less time than it would probably take me to run through the drive thru.
I'm full, they're full, and I don't feel really guilty for what we ate. For my money, this rocks. And the egg's not half bad either.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Doin' the washin'
A little over a year ago, my best friend, Alicia mentioned that she makes her own laundry detergent. I remember looking at her skeptically as if she was kidding. She wasn't. I couldn't imagine doing that- giving up the freshly laundered smell of Tide or Gain in my clothes- somehow that smell just makes the world seem in order.
But still in the weeks that followed, I started to ruminate on the home-made laundry detergent scenario. It makes sense. We pay around $15 every couple of weeks for a box of powdered gold. Apparently, there's a whole black market out there for Tide- as people are stealing truckloads of the stuff and selling it off for profit. Who knew? Reminds me of the days when the kids were still on formula and I had to go to the guest service desk at the grocery store to buy formula because people were stealing it off the shelves. To me, baby formula would be on my list of things to steal- but laundry detergent? I'm not sure that's worth hard time. I joke. I totally joke.
Anyway, I kept thinking about it, and finally had the nerve to mention it to Martin. You should have seen his face. Now, I have had my fair share of hair brained ideas (in his defense), but I could tell he thought that this was one of them. Little did he know that with the advent of Pinterest, there is a whole wide world out there now, of home-made stuff that can save us money and trips to the store (and in some cases, even cut out harmful chemicals and toxins). Nevertheless, he was a good sport, but still replied, "I don't think I'm ready for home-made laundry detergent". Okay, that's fair. I will bide my time.
Cut to about 2 weeks ago, and Martin was out of town. I ran out of laundry detergent. The stars had finally aligned, and I could try out my experiment with little resistance. Muhahaha. I texted Alicia and got the recipe she uses and the ingredient/supply list.
Powdered Borax
Arm and Hammer Washing Powder
Ivory Soap
Coffee scoop (I used the one with the slotted bottom for closing a coffee bag- found it at Target)
Jar or container with lid
Grater
large bowl
Twine
Stain remover (such as Spray on OxyClean)
Seriously? That's it. I couldn't believe how few ingredients it had- and all in all I think that totaled maybe $10 or so including the bottle of OxyClean (which I will use as needed). I had no problem finding the Ivory Soap or Borax at Target, but I did have to jump over to Walmart to find the Arm and Hammer Washing Powder. Now, I've since seen recipes on Pinterest that include Powdered Oxyclean and powdered Fabric Softener Crystals. I still have some of my original batch left, so I'll probably stick with this for now, as it's cheaper, and also, does not contain all the chemicals- and I'm starting to like that idea.
Now, I'm no allergist, but I would guess this is a great recipe for someone who's washing baby clothes or individuals with sensitive skin.
Here are the instructions:
1 bar Ivory Soap
1 c. Borax
1 c. Arm and Hammer Washing Powder
1. Grate one bar of Ivory Soap into a large bowl. I bought a special grater just for this, but I did notice that since it's soap it cleaned right up in the dishwasher so I really don't think it would matter- you could probably also use your food processor.
2. Add one cup Borax.
3. Add one cup Washing Powder.
4. Mix and pour into your jar or container.
5. Label jar and attach coffee spoon to the side. Done!
You only need 1 Tbsp. of detergent per load. It does not suds up the way other detergents do, and if I have a particularly smelly or dirty load, I will add 2 scoops for my peace of mind, but I don't think that's necessary. I did print instructions with my label maker and attach them on the side, so Martin would not be afraid to use it. He tends to over think these things. Please note- there is not a stain remover in this mix, so you will need to pre-treat stains with a stain remover, and use bleach on your whites, if you normally do.
Of course, I couldn't wait to sniff my first load of laundry. It doesn't have the heavy fragranced smell, but my clothes do, indeed, smell clean. If the fruity and flowery smells are really that important to you, I would suggest looking up the recipe using fabric softener on Pinterest. I have also pinned it onto my "Home Remedies" board for future use.
When Martin returned home, I immediately stuck the laundry in his face and said, "Smell! It's home-made detergent!!!" He is fine with it! No complaints from the hubby, and yes, he's even helping me wash with it. Two weeks later, I still have about half of my jar of detergent (I do about 8-10 loads of laundry a week), plus a ton of leftover supplies to make more- I'm probably set for 6 months to a year...
....which leads me to wonder how much I can get on the black market for the home-made stuff. Guess I'll just settle for sharing with y'all instead.
But still in the weeks that followed, I started to ruminate on the home-made laundry detergent scenario. It makes sense. We pay around $15 every couple of weeks for a box of powdered gold. Apparently, there's a whole black market out there for Tide- as people are stealing truckloads of the stuff and selling it off for profit. Who knew? Reminds me of the days when the kids were still on formula and I had to go to the guest service desk at the grocery store to buy formula because people were stealing it off the shelves. To me, baby formula would be on my list of things to steal- but laundry detergent? I'm not sure that's worth hard time. I joke. I totally joke.
Anyway, I kept thinking about it, and finally had the nerve to mention it to Martin. You should have seen his face. Now, I have had my fair share of hair brained ideas (in his defense), but I could tell he thought that this was one of them. Little did he know that with the advent of Pinterest, there is a whole wide world out there now, of home-made stuff that can save us money and trips to the store (and in some cases, even cut out harmful chemicals and toxins). Nevertheless, he was a good sport, but still replied, "I don't think I'm ready for home-made laundry detergent". Okay, that's fair. I will bide my time.
Cut to about 2 weeks ago, and Martin was out of town. I ran out of laundry detergent. The stars had finally aligned, and I could try out my experiment with little resistance. Muhahaha. I texted Alicia and got the recipe she uses and the ingredient/supply list.
Powdered Borax
Arm and Hammer Washing Powder
Ivory Soap
Coffee scoop (I used the one with the slotted bottom for closing a coffee bag- found it at Target)
Jar or container with lid
Grater
large bowl
Twine
Stain remover (such as Spray on OxyClean)
Seriously? That's it. I couldn't believe how few ingredients it had- and all in all I think that totaled maybe $10 or so including the bottle of OxyClean (which I will use as needed). I had no problem finding the Ivory Soap or Borax at Target, but I did have to jump over to Walmart to find the Arm and Hammer Washing Powder. Now, I've since seen recipes on Pinterest that include Powdered Oxyclean and powdered Fabric Softener Crystals. I still have some of my original batch left, so I'll probably stick with this for now, as it's cheaper, and also, does not contain all the chemicals- and I'm starting to like that idea.
Now, I'm no allergist, but I would guess this is a great recipe for someone who's washing baby clothes or individuals with sensitive skin.
Here are the instructions:
1 bar Ivory Soap
1 c. Borax
1 c. Arm and Hammer Washing Powder
1. Grate one bar of Ivory Soap into a large bowl. I bought a special grater just for this, but I did notice that since it's soap it cleaned right up in the dishwasher so I really don't think it would matter- you could probably also use your food processor.
2. Add one cup Borax.
3. Add one cup Washing Powder.
4. Mix and pour into your jar or container.
5. Label jar and attach coffee spoon to the side. Done!
You only need 1 Tbsp. of detergent per load. It does not suds up the way other detergents do, and if I have a particularly smelly or dirty load, I will add 2 scoops for my peace of mind, but I don't think that's necessary. I did print instructions with my label maker and attach them on the side, so Martin would not be afraid to use it. He tends to over think these things. Please note- there is not a stain remover in this mix, so you will need to pre-treat stains with a stain remover, and use bleach on your whites, if you normally do.
Of course, I couldn't wait to sniff my first load of laundry. It doesn't have the heavy fragranced smell, but my clothes do, indeed, smell clean. If the fruity and flowery smells are really that important to you, I would suggest looking up the recipe using fabric softener on Pinterest. I have also pinned it onto my "Home Remedies" board for future use.
When Martin returned home, I immediately stuck the laundry in his face and said, "Smell! It's home-made detergent!!!" He is fine with it! No complaints from the hubby, and yes, he's even helping me wash with it. Two weeks later, I still have about half of my jar of detergent (I do about 8-10 loads of laundry a week), plus a ton of leftover supplies to make more- I'm probably set for 6 months to a year...
....which leads me to wonder how much I can get on the black market for the home-made stuff. Guess I'll just settle for sharing with y'all instead.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Trimming the fat....
Well, it's been a little over 6 months since I decided to pull back from my job as a sales rep (working from home) and allow myself to focus on the things in life that should've been my priorities to begin with. My family, my home and my health.
With Martin's work responsibilities keeping him away more and more often, I knew that the stress of balancing the home responsibilities and taking care of the kiddos was really taking a toll on my health, and happiness. I had gained 20 lbs.- probably due to stress, lifestyle and some medical issues, and was also struggling with acid reflux, which my Dr. was chalking up to "life stress". Plus, the hours I put in did not balance with the happy income I had hoped for last year. So Martin and I took a look at the budget and decided that I would pull back from the job. Instead of networking, knocking on doors and trying to gain new clients, I would maintain a select few accounts and work less while working smarter. Best. Decision. Ever.
I've since lost 20 lbs, and am working toward my goal of 15-20 more. While I've been a bit lax this summer, I'm in the best shape of my life, and can now run 2-3 miles- a feat which I never in my wildest dreams thought I could achieve. I'm enjoying the summer months, and have taken my boys to the zoo, the library, the park, on bike rides, to the pool, and to the splash park; gone to Six Flags as a family, taken a family trip to Schlitterbahn and sent them to some pretty awesome camps- and the summer's not even halfway over yet. All of that with little to no guilt or anxiety about neglecting my job in the meantime. It is exhilarating to finally be able to enjoy my kids with minimal distractions. When I was working before, I felt guilty for not being with or enjoying time with the kids; while at the same time feeling guilty for neglecting work while with the kids. Some of you can pull off both, but I can tell you that for this mom, at this phase of my life- I could not- not without mass amounts of anxiety, guilt and the start of an ulcer from being pulled in so many directions. I am so much happier (and pleasant to be around- I think).
While it's been great, we're finally starting to feel the loss of the little income I did have coming in. Like every true American, we have amassed some debt, and that has started to wear on us. And with that, I find myself with a new guilt (it's what I'm best at)- the guilt for not contributing enough monetarily.
Martin and I have been discussing our big money plan, and with a desire to get our eternal goals and contributions more in line- how we can save some money, eliminate debt, etc. We had some scary conversations about cutting out things we love... and of course, we have to start with the glaringly obvious.
So, I'm redirecting where I'm going with the blog, and will be writing about our experiences in this "trimming the fat" at this stage of our lives. I will share our melt downs, our kids melt downs, some of my money saving tricks I've learned, and light bulb moments. Hopefully, it will encourage and perhaps inspire someone out there in our scenario.
My hope is that if I can trim 20 pounds of fat from my body, we can do the same in our budget. Happy reading y'all!
With Martin's work responsibilities keeping him away more and more often, I knew that the stress of balancing the home responsibilities and taking care of the kiddos was really taking a toll on my health, and happiness. I had gained 20 lbs.- probably due to stress, lifestyle and some medical issues, and was also struggling with acid reflux, which my Dr. was chalking up to "life stress". Plus, the hours I put in did not balance with the happy income I had hoped for last year. So Martin and I took a look at the budget and decided that I would pull back from the job. Instead of networking, knocking on doors and trying to gain new clients, I would maintain a select few accounts and work less while working smarter. Best. Decision. Ever.
I've since lost 20 lbs, and am working toward my goal of 15-20 more. While I've been a bit lax this summer, I'm in the best shape of my life, and can now run 2-3 miles- a feat which I never in my wildest dreams thought I could achieve. I'm enjoying the summer months, and have taken my boys to the zoo, the library, the park, on bike rides, to the pool, and to the splash park; gone to Six Flags as a family, taken a family trip to Schlitterbahn and sent them to some pretty awesome camps- and the summer's not even halfway over yet. All of that with little to no guilt or anxiety about neglecting my job in the meantime. It is exhilarating to finally be able to enjoy my kids with minimal distractions. When I was working before, I felt guilty for not being with or enjoying time with the kids; while at the same time feeling guilty for neglecting work while with the kids. Some of you can pull off both, but I can tell you that for this mom, at this phase of my life- I could not- not without mass amounts of anxiety, guilt and the start of an ulcer from being pulled in so many directions. I am so much happier (and pleasant to be around- I think).
While it's been great, we're finally starting to feel the loss of the little income I did have coming in. Like every true American, we have amassed some debt, and that has started to wear on us. And with that, I find myself with a new guilt (it's what I'm best at)- the guilt for not contributing enough monetarily.
Martin and I have been discussing our big money plan, and with a desire to get our eternal goals and contributions more in line- how we can save some money, eliminate debt, etc. We had some scary conversations about cutting out things we love... and of course, we have to start with the glaringly obvious.
So, I'm redirecting where I'm going with the blog, and will be writing about our experiences in this "trimming the fat" at this stage of our lives. I will share our melt downs, our kids melt downs, some of my money saving tricks I've learned, and light bulb moments. Hopefully, it will encourage and perhaps inspire someone out there in our scenario.
My hope is that if I can trim 20 pounds of fat from my body, we can do the same in our budget. Happy reading y'all!
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