Some Thoughts on Finding Balance

After our afternoon of berry picking last week, there was quite a bit of jam to be made.  The next evening when I got home from work, I made a quick dinner and set to work.  The next day at work, my co-workers were all surprised that I could work until 6 pm, stop at the store on my way home and still get roughly a gallon of jam made.  

The purpose of this post is not to brag about how I'm such a fantastic domestic engineer that I can get home from my job set a colorful, delicious home cooked from scratch meal on the table, clean up, bathe children read them stories and have them tucked into bed just at the first stars come out.  In case you actually believe that, let me know.  You can be the president of my fan club.

The reality of making jam on a weeknight is this: my family ate frozen pizzas for dinner, Matt entertained the kids while I sanitized jars and got the ingredients all ready.  We tag teamed baths, settled them down in front of their favorite TV show and I got jam cooking.  We tucked the kids into bed in between batches, then I returned to the kitchen.  At around 10:30, I finished up and shut the lights off on what my dad refers to as a "jam session".

The moral of the story is this.  For everything you do, there is a trade off.  I chose to feed my family essentially a fast food dinner in order to make our year's worth of raspberry jam.  I can't stand store bought jelly any more.  It all tastes like melted candy to me.  This is the choice I made on that day.  In a perfect world, I would have a nice home cooked meal on the table for my family every night, I would never get behind on laundry or forget to pay a bill.  However, in the real world, sometimes we eat pizza or fish sticks so mom and dad can get whatever task completed in the short space of an evening (sometimes we just eat sandwiches and go fishing too).

I do things I feel are important for my family.  Clearly, homemade jam is not a priority for the majority of people, otherwise there wouldn't be 89 different kinds at the grocery store.  I prefer to make as many things as I can.  That's just me.  Maybe that's not you.  That's ok.  We all do the best we can.  I learn new techniques from others in my community and Pinterest, lots of Pinterest.  Sometimes they work out for us, sometimes they don't.  I don't sweat it.  Ok, sometimes I do, but I try not to.  I want my kids to have happy memories of their childhood like the smell of homemade jam, their dad teaching them how to run the garden tiller, our family taking our little boat out to see what's biting.  In order to do that, I stay up late when I have to, let them eat cereal for supper once in a while and occasionally go to daycare in their jammies.

As parents we make so many decisions every single day that it can get overwhelming.  We're all flying by the seat of our pants here.  If somebody tells you they have it all together and are on top of everything, they are either lying or drinking heavily, maybe both.

Berry Pickin'

On my day off last week, the kids and I made the trek up to visit my aunt & uncle.  They live about an hour north of us.  Not a long haul by any stretch, but long enough to require some planning when travelling with two small children.

The excuse reason for our visit was that raspberries are ripe and need picking.  I love picking berries and don't have to be too heavily persuaded to go.  It was worth  the trip.  We came home with an ice cream bucket full of berries and good moods from having spent a peaceful day up north.

The kids enjoy berry picking too.  Natalie takes her berry picking very seriously and can't wait to be big enough to get to stir the pot of boiling jam.  Joey on the other hand, seems to think of lots of other things he can do besides actually pick the berries and still be "helpful".  This time, he decided that he needed to hide in the lilac bush near the berry patch and hunt the berries for us.  That way, they'd hold still and we could pick them.  You know how quick those raspberries are.  They might just get away.  So, armed with a stick gun and one nice big raspberry leaf stuffed in each ear for earmuffs (those stick guns can get pretty loud), he shot down quite a few of those feisty canes so we could get their berries.  I just love kids and their imaginations.  Here's a few pictures of the kids on our berry picking adventure.

Natalie very seriously picking berries.

Joey preparing for battle with his huntin' earmuffs

Joey shooting berries for Natalie to pick.  Isn't he helpful?

Homemade Laundry Soap & Countertop Spray

It was a hot hot day here in the woods.  After our morning of outdoor chores, I retreated indoors to my air conditioning.  There is hardly ever a shortage of  things that need to be cleaned or otherwise set in order, so I stayed busy.  Or at least occupied.  It was a good time to refill my trusty all purpose spray cleaner and laundry soap supplies.  

These two handy products are my favorite things in my arsenal of weapons against grime.  I have nothing against buying laundry detergent or spray cleaner in the store.  I make my own because they are gentler on our clothes and skin, more earth friendly and very importantly, cheaper.  I didn't just wake up one morning and decide to make some kind of statement by "going green".  Making my some of own cleaning supplies was a way to trim some off our household expenses.  All the rest was just a bonus.

Now, I  make no claim of having invented these concoctions.  I found them on the Internet.  Somebody else invented them.  I use them faithfully though and felt they were worth mentioning.  Because I have that kind of time on my hands today and there must be a need for one more blog with a post about homemade cleaning supplies, right?

To make the spray, you will need a glass 2 cup measuring cup, measuring spoons, a clean spray bottle, white vinegar, borax and some nice smelling dish detergent.  I usually use natural liquid dish soap, so I substitute this in for the castile soap that the original recipe calls for.  I have nothing against castile soap.  It is not as hard to find as it once was.  However, for the price of a small bottle of castile soap, I could just go buy ready made all purpose spray cleaner.  A little bit of dish soap works nicely and is a fraction of the price.

Put 1 1/2 cups hot water in the measuring cup.

Add 3 Tbsp. vinegar & 1 1/2 tsp. borax.

Mix well to dissolve borax.

Pour into spray bottle.

Add 1/4 cup liquid dish soap.

Gently shake to mix.  Then add a bit more water to top off the spray bottle.

I use this on my dining room table, counters and stove top.  Works like a charm.  And it is pretty darn cheap to make, which is the main reason I started going this route anyway.

For the laundry soap you will need a big bowl, a fairly fine cheese grater, 1 cup measuring cup, baking soda, washing soda, borax, Zote (or Fels-Naptha or Kirk's castile soap), and oxy clean (optional), a long handled spoon and a big jar or bucket to store your soap in.

Start by mixing 2 cups each baking soda, washing soda and oxy clean (if using).

Add 3 cups borax and stir to combine.

Then you will grate what is about 2 cups of soap flakes.  This is approximately 1/2 bar of Zote.  The finer you grate your soap, the easier it dissolves in the washer.  It should look something roughly like the texture of shredded coconut. Add this to your powders and stir well to combine. Then just scoop it into a big jar with a lid. Use 2 Tbsp. per wash load.

*Safe for HE machines as it does not bubble at all.  In case you don't have and HE machine, do not be alarmed when you see that it produces no bubbles.  It's not supposed to.  

**The oxy clean is totally optional, but I like to add it in for summer time laundry.  Our clothes just get dirtier in the summer and I'm all for a little boost in the laundry.

Yes, I know the lid is off my jar.  I put it on after I took the picture.

Two words: caramelized peaches

Peaches are in season now and are just about the cheapest fruit at my local grocery store.  We've been eating a LOT of fresh peaches.  I think the kids might be getting tired of them, since the same 3 peaches have been rolling around in the fruit bin for close to a week.  They were no longer what I'd call picture perfect.  You know the ones I'm talking about.  They're kinda squishy on one side, maybe the skin has a few nicks in it, nobody wants to eat those.  But, I didn't want to throw out what was over a pound of peaches either.  

Since we were having a breakfast-y kind of supper, I decided to cook them on the stove with a little butter, brown sugar and some of that handy dandy pie spice that I so entertainingly wrote about in my last post.  They made a lovely side dish along side my turkey hash and some whole wheat toast.

cut any bruised parts off and roughly slice peaches into a pan with about 2 tbsp. melting butter.  Add  a scant 1/4 c. brown sugar and  1/2 tsp. pie spice.

Stir it up a bit and you get this golden deliciousness.  Let it simmer for a few minutes till peaches are soft and sauce is thickened up a bit.

Put it on a plate with whatever random main dish you are trying to convince your family is going to be "really good", in this case, turkey hash.

The peaches were a hit. Natalie raved about how yummy they were and while Joey didn't say they were good, he did eat them and did not proclaim them to be "yucky" or "ascustin" (disgusting).

 The turkey hash received mixed reviews though.  I thought it was pretty good, Matt and Natalie said it was ok, good for something different (even though Matt was skeptical about my using "that old turkey" from the freezer).  Joey wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.  He did however eat his toast and peaches so he didn't go to bed on an empty stomach.  Not sure about this hash recipe.  Maybe I should have put a nice soft fried egg over the top? I saw that on "Chopped" the other day.

**This fancy peach dish can also be made with apples.  I learned to make it with apples from my friend's eccentric landlady. We eat lots of it in the fall when apples are abundant.  This is the first time I have made it with peaches, but it won't be the last.

This is what happens when Mom gets bored

I can't tell you the last time I was bored.  I also haven't been home for 9 of 10 days since I was on maternity leave.  So, this is what happens.  When there's a break in the action of having a kid laying on me, I clean, organize, generally get the house in order.  The thing is, that's all been done.  The animals are all fed and watered. The garden is weeded, fertilized and the corn hilled.  The kids are napping. Thank the Lord in heaven for that! But I now find myself prowling around the house for a project.  

I noticed a few days ago that my trusty jar of Savory Herb Rub was just about empty.  Today seemed like the perfect time to mix up a fresh batch and refill the jar.  And, as long as I had the contents of the spice cabinet on the counter, refill the rest of my trusty seasoning blends.  

Over the years, I have gotten my hot little hands on several homemade seasoning recipes.  I really like these because I can mix up a big jar of it and keep in the cupboard and not be in the middle of cooking supper and realize that I'm out of taco seasoning or onion soup mix.  These seasonings are cheaper than store blends and have no mystery ingredients.  They are also gluten and MSG free.  Nobody in my house has any food allergies, but occasionally we have guests who do, or I bring potluck dishes to work or church and I just feel like I should be careful of those things.  (Nobody wants to be the person who brought the dish that sent someone to the emergency room).  All these seasonings are made with plain old grocery store spices or, if you live near a fleet supply store, they also carry them for around $1 each.

The lineup: Savory Herb Rub, Pie Spice, Onion Soup mix, Taco Seasoning, Chili Seasoning

In case anybody else is bored and wants to make these mixes, here are the recipes.

Savory Herb Rub (courtesy of my friend Janice S.)

¼ C. Dried Marjoram

¼ C. Dried Basil

2T. + 2t. Dried Thyme

2T. + 2t. Garlic powder

1T+1t. Dried Rosemary

1T. Dried Oregano

Combine and store in airtight container. Use to season beef, pork or venison.

Makes 1 cup.

Dry Onion Soup Mix:(courtesy of Self-Reliance by Jamie via Pinterest)

2/3 cup dried, minced onion

3 teaspoons parsley flakes

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Mix all ingredients in a jar, then give the jar a good shake.  I’d recommend shaking the jar to mix the ingredients well before each use. 

Use 4 tablespoons in a recipe in place of 1 packet of onion soup mix.  Store this in a dry, cool place. 

Taco Seasoning:(Also courtesy of Self-Reliance by Jamie via Pinterest)

1/2 cup chili powder

1/4 cup onion powder

1/8 cup ground cumin

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon sea salt

Put ingredients into a jar and shake.  Use 3 Tbsp. in place of 1 packet.

Pie Spice: (courtesy of Katie Brown)

2 T. cinnamon

1 T. ginger

1 t. cloves

1 t. nutmeg

1 t. allspice

Mix together and store in a cool dry place.  I use this in place of plain cinnamon in most dishes.

Chili Spice Mix: (also courtesy of Katie Brown)

3 T. chili powder

2 T. paprika

1 T. cumin powder

1 T. dried oregano

2 T. garlic salt

1 T. ground black pepper

1 T. crushed red pepper flakes*

1 T. ancho chili powder*

Mix all together and store in a cool dry place.  Use in place of packets or individual spices in chili recipes. 

*The red pepper flakes and ancho chili powder are my own additions.  I like the flavor and happen to have a stockpile of ancho powder from when my dad went to Mexico.  This seems like a good way to use it, but these ingredients are totally optional.

If you happen to notice in the picture, all the jars have plastic caps on them.  These are the lids from Parmesan cheese containers.  Another fantastic idea I got from Pinterest. 

And that's what happens when this mom gets bored.  

A Fish Story

The kids are finally feeling better, so we decided to take an evening trip to our favorite local fishing hole.  Matt was out there last night and caught a couple of Bowfin (Dogfish).  These fish aren't really very good to eat as they are a bottom feeding rough fish, but they put up a good fight and are fun to catch.  Plus, they are predators who eat other small fish and can take over a lake if left to their own devices.   

After all the recent rain, the lake level is still up enough to allow us to take our small boat through the normally narrow channel to the back part of the lake.  There is a pretty good size stream that runs into the lake back here, and a beaver lodge.  Lots of activity to keep everybody entertained.

Tonight we came in during a feeding frenzy.  When the dogfish are feeding, they stir up the bottom of the lake and release air pockets.   The lake was just boiling with air bubbles from feeding fish.  

Not ten minutes after we got settled, Matt hauled in a Largemouth bass roughly the size of his boot.  Everybody got a good look at him then we let him go.

We could see a large fish feeding at the surface and making a heck of a ruckus.  Matt was pretty sure it was a Dogfish.  This monster made a huge splash at my line and Matt's before Matt got him on the hook right as the sun went down.  The Dogger (as they are known in our house) put up a good fight.  We finally got him into the boat and he was a whopper!  We decided he looked like a nice meal for our chickens so we brought this one home.  

I finally snapped a picture of it once we got home.  I sure picked a lousy night to not bring my camera in the boat.  Missed out on plenty of live action tonight!

Matt holding up the big dogfish for the kids.  You can see that Joey is very impressed.

sick kids and playdough

The kids and I are home today as they are both a bit under the weather.  Natalie came down with a fever last night and Joey is still recovering from his ear tube/adenoid removal surgery.  This is the sixth straight day that the kids have been together with very little outside interaction.  They are restless. They are kind of tired of being home together with nobody else to play with.  Bored kids can be difficult.  Bored, sick kids fight and whine and make me a little bit crazy.  They have been fighting over everything, but they especially fight over who gets to sit on my lap.  This is where the element of distraction comes in.  Yesterday, I put them in swimsuits and took out their kiddie pool and sprinkler.  That did the trick.  

Today is a different story, with Natalie's fever and all.  I'm not so sure about stripping her down and sending her out to play in cold water.  Is this a good idea or not?  She seems to want to stay inside. And fight with her whiny brother.  Is this how it goes with everybody's kids when more than one of them aren't feeling good?  Maybe other people's kids lie in bed in their cute pj's and look at picture books all day.  Not the case with my kids.  So, I have to get creative.  Or see if I can find some cheap Valium on the street.

Today, I went with creative.  I googled play dough recipes and found a neat one that has no cream of tartar in it, since I forgot to buy more after I made play dough for Natalie's birthday party.  I found this great play dough recipe.  I made a double batch thinking that it didn't look like much. It made a lot.  The kids each got 3 big globs to color and do with whatever they pleased, except throw it at things.  It worked great.  I had their attention for the entire cooking process, about 10 minutes or so, and then we dyed it and they played for about another 30 minutes or so.  Long enough for me to take a few pictures and upload them at least.

Joey made a dragon.

Natalie made marbles.

If you'll notice, their fingers are nicely colored, as are mine. Gel food coloring is very strong stuff.  You may not need to add as much as I did. Should you find yourself in this tie-dyed state, don't worry.  It washes off after a few tries.

And now, the best part.  They both fell asleep. I'll call this one a win.

What low key activities do you do when your kids are sickly and restless?

Bunk Bed Sheets

We got a set of bunk beds for our kids last summer.  We love them because they save space in their tiny bedroom.  The kids love them because it is a combination pirate ship, deer stand, tree fort and bed all in one.    So they are all around a winner.  


However, I just have one little problem with the bunkbeds.  I can't reach to make the top bunk. While the beds were in process (we got them off of Freecycle sanded and repainted them), I sewed  a basic bedspread for each bed.  The blankets are just big enough to cover the tops of the mattresses. So I don't have to wrestle with the blankets, but the sheets are still an issue.  Tucking in sheets is really hard for me. I'm just not tall enough for it.  

While in Goodwill a week or so ago, I found a couple really cool old twin size sheets for $1.99 each.  But they were both fitted sheets.  Then inspiration struck!  These sheets are the kind where the elastic is at the narrow ends, not all the way around, so I thought I'd cut the elastic off the top end, hem it up and have a perfect bunkbed sheet.  And, it worked beautifully.  Here's how I did it.

My nifty sheet before it was forever altered.  I unfolded it and carefully cut the elastic binding off.  Then I had big piece  of fabric with two notches missing out of the corners.  So, I cut the middle part out from between the notches to make the top a straight(ish) line.  Following me so far?  Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of that part.

Then, I took that hunk of fabric that I chopped off the top, folded it in half the long way and cut along my fold, so that I had two strips of fabric.  Then I sewed them together along one of the short sides, so I had one long strip.

Then, I folded it in half again and pressed in the seam.  Next, I folded the edges under to make a nice even finished edge.

Now I had my binding to attach to the top part that I had hacked apart.  I ran 3 lines of stitches along the binding to attach it to the rest of the sheet.  The first to hold the two pieces together, the second for decoration and the third because I missed a spot and my fold came undone.  When I was finished, this is what I wound up with.

A nicely hemmed flat sheet that does not require any tucking.  It just slides over the foot end of the mattress and lays flat at the top.

I'm sure I'm not the first person who ever thought of this, but I feel rather proud to have found a way to solve my bunkbed sheet problem.

Oh and I had a little piece of that binding left, so I made it into a fancy little iron cord cuff thing that I saw on Pinterest.  Theirs had a button closure.  I'm not even going to pretend that I know how to work the button hole setting on my sewing machine, so I used velcro.  The button is purely decorative.  Sorry for the sideways picture here.  It was turned the right way in my photo file, but seems to have flipped back over during the upload process.

Cloth Napkins

I have seen a few articles on the amount of money we spend on paper towels and napkins that wind up in landfills and the solution to the problem was cloth napkins and cleaning rags.  Re-usable cleaning rags, done.  That was easy.  I just demoted my grungiest dish towels and washcloths to the cleaning supply cupboard and use those most often when I'm going to clean up a spill.  Napkins took a little more effort though.  If you know me, you know that I just can't go to the store, buy a nice set of matching cloth napkins and maybe even a few nifty little napkin rings.  I feel compelled to do things the hard way.  As in, make it myself, just to see if I can.  And, tell you that if I can, you can.

I am by no means a seamstress.  I only barely passed 8th grade sewing class and didn't touch a sewing machine again for almost 20 years.  But my dear aunt Iris gave me her old sewing machine a few years ago and my adventures began.   I have made a few respectable projects, but they all tend to be in the shape of a rectangle.  So, when I found a tutorial on Pinterest for cloth napkins, I thought hey, right up my alley, and within my comfort zone.  And, the lady who posted this had them in a basket on her table.  Yay! another use for a basket (just had to throw that in there for my basketophobe friend ;) ).

I ventured to the fabric store, found some fun prints and a couple of months later, finally got around to cutting and pressing that fun fabric and sewing my napkins.  I have made ten so far and have fabric for six more.  We have four people in our family, and though I do a load of laundry almost daily, I'd like to have enough for a few days worth of meals.  I fully anticipate that they will also serve as blankets for beanie babies, barbie dolls and probably the cat.  So, extras are probably not a bad idea.

Here's a link to the tutorial.  how to make cloth napkins  Here's a quick picture of my basket o napkins.

If you feel compelled to count, you'll notice that there are more than 10 napkins in the basket.  That's because I started writing this post before I was done sewing and waited until the basket was full before I took its picture.

We have been using them for close to a week now, and they are a big hit with the kids.  Especially Natalie who has a new found interest in setting the table.  I can also happily report that due to the cloth napkin usage, our paper towel consumption has significantly decreased.  Mission accomplished.