Homemaking Organized Blog

Archive for the ‘Home Life’ Category

TMI – My sinuses are bothering me.

I never even had sinus problems until I became pregnant.

My sister, aunts, and I used to joke about blaming all of life’s ills on the children.

So far I’ve tried….

1. tea
2. homeopathic
3. neti pot type thingy
4. OTC
5. steam

It’s the headache part that gets me.  A nagging headache that won’t go away.

Oh well. Thought I would share.

Image via Wikipedia

This post is late. Yes it is. But better late than never.

Did you know that September is Family Prepardness month? I was reminded by a nice library poster this morning.

This is the month to get your emergency plans in order. Even though this post is late our preparedness is not. Just earlier this month we attended our umpteenth CPR and First Aid class. We have to renew ever two years as Foster Parents. They keep changing things so this is good.  It also reminds us to update our first aid kits which is a good place to start.

• When was the last time you updated your First Aid kit?
• Made an emergency exit plan(you know in case of fire)
• Updated your emergency contacts?
• Thought about what you would grab if you had 15 minutes to vacate the premises?

Better late than never.

Related articles

• Disaster Preparedness on a Budget (savings.com)

So I have a new freezer and I’ve been spending some time hugging getting to know it. I’m a little shocked that after emptying the above the refrigerator freezer into it that it is more than half full already. I think that’s pretty telling of how packed my above the refrigerator freezer was.

So here are some great tips and resources I found that might help you too.

Organization

I knew that although the freezer came with two hanging baskets the real job is organized below that. The stuff at the bottom. After reading around I discovered that those plastic crates you find in office supply stores can work pretty well. I have an 8.8 cu ft freezer and was able to fit two of these in there. I designated one of those for raw meats and the other for prepared meals. I will admit that I have a tiny bit of frost on the sides of my freezer and when I pulled up one of the crates it grated against that little bit of ice and ssshhhhiiiivvvveeerrrrrr it was like nails on a blackboard. I can still ‘hear’ it now… ssshhhhiiiivvvveeerrrrrr

I also have smaller baskets that I’m using for butter, veggies, fruits, and my specialty flours (buckwheat, barley, graham, teff) . I have room for a few more baskets and I know I’m still getting accustomed to the whole thing.

Filling it Up

My goal for the freezer is preparing those meals that will help save time in the future and storing good buys and excess from the garden.

For great tips on preserving your foods from all sorts of sources I found this site Pick Your Own it’s about pick your own farms, how to can, freeze, dry and more.

For ideas on what kinds of meals to put away I have quite a few resources, mostly books. There is this nice article to give you an idea of what you can put away.

Then these are the books I’m using for recipes.

Frozen Assets Lite and Easy: Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month: I’m like the way this books is organized. By mini sessions by meat. For example I’m eyeing the ground turkey mini session. It’s all laid out with recipes, shopping lists and preparation instructions. I never thought our menus were so light but I could work with this book.  I’m checking it out from the library.

Make-A-Mix: I don’t use all the recipes in this book but I do like the cookie and the baking mixes. I own this one.
More Make Your Own Groceries: This is an excellent book for freezer cooking and making staples. I have no idea why it is so expensive on Amazon. I own a copy. There are two editions, 1 and 2. I have both. 2 is the cover of the link and 1 has a yellow cover. They are both excellent.

Keeping Track

For keeping up on what’s inside I printed up a new sheet from my planner (yes I use Vintage Household Notes too) and put it in a sleeve. For now I taped it to the top but I’m looking at other ways to attach it. I opted for writing the ususal suspects in pen and then hash marks in pencil for how many I have going there.

I hope some of this has been a help to someone.

PICS

As the days get longer I’m sensing a new rhthym to our routine. As spring sets in Sweet Peanut and I both decided we need to get up earlier to accomplish more (neither of us are morning people). Our normal pattern is to wake etc. have a very long breakfast and do a lot of other chores before starting the school day. Sometimes we’ll even run all of our errands before coming home and finishing school. Now we’re having devotions, a bit of school and then taking a really long break that includes breakfast, exercise, cleaning, maybe an errand and then back in class.

The days are also longer, our garden is growing and we’re itching to finish up classes. This year I have to remember not to waste the summer and accomplish a few things besides lazy days and a touch of gardening.

I don’t know if travel is in our near future. That’s on the table.

Things to put into our Summer Plans

1. Continue to build upon skills learned this year in kindergarten (I love BJU they have a set of workbooks and reading books for that)

2. Pack the freezer with pick your own and onions from the garden (I planted a lot of onions)

3. Peanut asked to learn piano

4. Teach Peanut to rollerblade (Wahoo!)

5. Continue to fine tune house (I’m still Spring Cleaning).

6. Regular library programs, zoo visits, trips to friends etc.

Well it’s been on my heart and mind so here it is.

Not  a busy summer but a thoughtful one.

Question: Are you finding you want to change your schedule too?

Tools: I found this nice resource the other day.

When I saw the BrytonPick Floss I knew I wanted to do a review.

I’m very specific about my floss and my flossing but often when eating out or at a friends I wish I had some floss with me (is that TMI?). I also wanted to see if the BrytonPick Floss would be something my sister is interested in. She has been very big on floss since we were little and I thought this would be a cute little something to throw in with her birthday present (I did give it to her).

So when the little package came I thought a good time would be to try this out while monitoring Peanut’s bath. I like to multitask here.

First I read the directions thoroughly. Made sure to stay away from my gums, opened my mouth etc. And made note of the fact that this is in fact thin sheets of steel.

The first thing I did was cut my lip. That was very tragic for me and disheartening. It’s like a papercut you know.

After that I probably didn’t do that good a job with the whole flossing thing but here is what I will note.

1. This is very convenient for carrying around in your purse. Nice, flat, and small. I keep a very small purse so tiny things are a plus for me.

2. It did in fact floss my teeth. I won’t go into gorry details but it did work.

3. Apparently it takes some getting used to so I have to give it some time. I did not like the gum cutting thing at all. Floss is supposed to get below your gumline so that could be a downfall. Although this is supposed to be for on the go and not a substitute for your regular flossing routine. But note: Be Careful of lip

4. I’m not sure how it works on popcorn but that could be the real test.

You can purchase your own BrytonPick here

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I received an email in my inbox today from Tawra at Living on a Dime. In it she answers a question from one of her subscribers who questioned her frugal living but yet having a nice house. I love Tawra’s answer to this because it is so true.

Frugal living does not mean that you live in a hut with threadbare clothes and nothing new in your life. Living frugally does not mean living poor. It means you know where to cut costs and save so that you do have the money to buy quality items and NOT on credit. It means being good stewards of what God has entrusted to you.

We lived frugal waaaay before it was in. My mother brought us up frugal. As a single mother she had to cut costs and after having lived in a third world country she knew how to do it. We had lovely clothes but they were bought second hand. And I shouldn’t say ‘but’. Just they were bought second hand. They were beautiful clothes. Back then you could usually attach a designer name to well made clothing. Not so today. Designer name does not mean that you will get quality clothing. Paying the most does not always mean paying for the best.

The title of my post is a quote from a long time friend of the family. Her mother told her asthey were growing up that because they were poor they could only afford to buy the best. Not the most expensive, the best. When it came to certain items she had to buy the best to ensure longevity and that she would get what she paid for.

We live like that today. We try and buy the best we can afford to ensure longevity, and a quality item that does what we need it to do. From vitamins to household goods.

I bought quality bed linens and bath towels because I’ve seen too many of the cheap ones become threadbare in a year. And I use the past tense because they are lasting. This past year was the first time I purchased new bed linens for us in 13 years of marriage. And only because I poufed the bed up with a feather bed and we needed those deep sheets.

When it comes to clothes we purchase them at an outlet store in our city. It’s a well known brand that I couldn’t afford full price of. The quality of the clothes is one you don’t see in stores anymore and as such I have not had to buy new clothing in quite some time. I buy classic styles that stand the test of time.

When it comes to grocery shopping I use coupons and buy items on sale. But because of food allergies and general health concerns much of what we buy is not found in the coupon flyer. I make a lot from scratch originally from necessity and now for the health and enjoyment of it.

We don’t eat out. First because of food allergies and now because we tend to cook better at home. We cook as a family watching cooking shows, reading cookbooks, and trying new things. We call it Chez Quinn.

I’ve picked sewing back up. I don’t think sewing is frugal because fabric costs an arm and a leg. But I was getting very discouraged by the clothing to be found for my 6 year old. Luckily my mother had some fabric she put away for such a time as this. And I have found a few sales on some nice fabric for her. But some call it frugal so I list it.

I’m not a perfect frugal person.  In fact many say I’m not frugal because we don’t live poor. We give first to God and then try to live wisely…and well, on the rest.

Share some of your frugal tips with me.

I like a good book. Sometimes I like too many good books. I know I don’t talk about them often enough on this blog but mostly because I’m one of those who will read the cereal box just to read something. I read a lot of different things and they’re not always newsworthy.

But this time I really like what I’m reading so much so that I crawled under the dining table yesterday evening to escape and read some more. My husband and daughter understood. My daughter came over to pet my head.

My soon to graduate and head into the world of college nephew turned me on to the book. It’s actually his copy I’m borrowing so I’m being careful not to eat over it and such as I usually do.

Because the author is a female author and it’s Christian fiction one would think chick-lit but it held appeal for him so there must be more.  And there was. He discovered the book in his English class where they were studying bits of writing and he enjoyed the bit from this book. He wanted to know more so he went and bought a copy.  He thought my mother would enjoy it so he loaned it to her and then she thought I would like it too. I wasn’t sure what to expect when he loaned it to me but I’m impressed and now have ordered the rest of the series because I love to read. But what held the appeal for my nephew? Probably the focus on the teenage boys in the different families. I found them most interesting too.

Oh! What is it?

Title: By the Light of a Thousand Stars (The Derby Series #3)

Author: Jamie Langston, Turner

Synopsis: The book is written in the first person of four female characters, two Christian women and two non-Christian,  who’s lives intertwine and the changes that happen in their lives and their families’ lives over the space of about a year. There is also a poetry club that sort of gives you the hint that there are many more characters perhaps whose lives are delved into in other books. I can’t say right off that I was ready to give this book a try. The opening pages are of a mother who is grieving for her lost child. Having lost a child I was finding myself getting a bit sad reading thoughts that mirrored once mine once were but I pulled through and I’m glad I did.

Geesh I know I’m not giving you much of the book but you can go to Amazon and read the first few pages. I kind of like that you know because you usually know by the end of the first chapter if you want to read on.  I just don’t like to give away the all of a book you know.

The book is highly detailed. Meaning you will know every move of a character, “She went to put on her coat.  Her left arm in the sleeve and then her right. She zipped the jacket closed and then pulled on the hood. Looking down she felt in her pockets for her gloves”.  Okay that is NOT verbatim but some of it is like that and it can seem over the top but that is the beauty of the book. You really get to know the characters and even the family members.

It is the third in a series of 5 so I have a lot to read.

I enjoy it and hey! you might too.

Did  you know that January is Get Organized Month?

Gotta love it. I do.

Well we all have areas that we would love to get organized and busy mothers might feel like there is no end to the disorganization.  But there is. (Just think of your older female friends who’s children have flown the coop. Notice how neat an organized their homes are? How about how they have all this time for crafts and hobbies. See it does get better .)

Well the secret to much of this being organized stuff is knowing when YOUR time is. The time when mom can refocus, regroup, plan, and organize.  For busy moms that time is usually morning.

Morning is that time when you want to stay in bed. Let your kids wake you begging for breakfast. Tell them to help themselves. Get another few minutes of shuteye time. But if you take control of that time it can be the most rewarding of your day.

To help you get started Kat over at Inspired to Action has put together a totally free and incredible ebook to help you start planning your mornings, using them wisely and getting more done. It includes morning devotional ideas, checklists for your day with meal planning and errands and much more. Just click on the cute button below.

First thank you everyone that has entered the Yoplait Smoothie and KitchenAid Blender giveaway.

Pssst! It ends tomorrow at midnight (my time).

Now as we all prepare tirelessly for Thanksgiving (my house) here is a new lovely printable more about the Thankful part than about the eating part.

Silverbox Creative Studios, customizing design, and creative beautiful photos for customers and such, has  uploaded a lovely printable to remind us to be thankful this holiday season. Print them off. Add your personal touch and use them to decorate your holiday dinner table.

These are very pretty. I like the craft paper. Have to see if I have some around. I would like to make the ring and use it as a centerpiece.

So lovely…

Download yours here.

Do you ever have a fridge full of leftovers, no desire to cook anew, and not an idea in your head about what to do with them?

Yes this happens to me a lot.

Tonight it was chili. I also have some turkey in there.

So here are a few ideas.

I made chili pie with the leftover chili. Top with cheese and some dropped on cornbread batter (yes technically I had to cook to make those).

For the turkey I make soft turkey tacos. Chop up the turkey, sauté some onions and peppers.  Add the turkey to heat through. Serve with cheese. Delicioso!