Wednesday, April 15, 2009

10 Things I'm Thankful For







1: Salvation! I would be hopeless without Jesus, my Savior!
2: My hubby. He is a great man and is getting even better by the day.
3:My family. I have the best family I could ever hope for. I have been given such a godly example since birth. They are always there for me.
4:Our income. I whine about having to work that work takes up so much of our lives. We are blessed though and I don't want to ever take it for granted.
5: Dish washers! Enough said!
6: Libraries. Infinite knowledge available for free.
7: Living in a country that I can praise God and live for Him.
8: Coupons! Freebies! Samples! .. these are a few of my favorite things! = )
9: A four month summer break from work! Only 16 more days!
10: Freecycle, Craigslist, Yard sales, Thrift stores.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Books Galore !



I posted on Freecyle.org that I would take any kids books if someone had them to give away. A woman gave me these Strawberry Shortcake Craft books. The books are very cute! I think these would be perfect to save for rainy days.

If you haven't tried out Freecycle it is a must! The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,720 groups with 6,588,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.






Our library had a book sale last weekend. I bought a box of kids books, Bibles and educational books for only $2.75!

When in public school I had a hard time with math. Instead of the teachers giving me a little extra help they decide to put me in a basic math class. I never learned algebra. I found this book at the sale. The bookstore price was $82.20 and I paid $0.20 for it! I decided that I have hated math for far too long. My husband is helping me through it and its not so bad.



I can't wait to see what else I will find this week!

Friday, March 27, 2009

Garden Growth 1

Tuesday













Wednesday















Thursday

I am shocked by how fast the cilantro is growing.











Peas

















Spinach













Blackberries













Strawberries

Spring


I think the little flowers on this tree look like birds.



























































Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Tonight was girls night. We had BBQ Chicken pizza and I made homemade cinnamon rolls.
It was a great night!



Here is my recipe

2 cups of warm water
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons dry yeast (or two packages of dry yeast)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Canola oil (I use Canola, but you can use any kind of cooking oil)
(you can also use shortening, if you prefer)
6 to 7 cups of flour

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let sit for a minute or two. Add the sugar and salt. Mix. Add the cooking oil (or shortening), 2 eggs, 2 cups of flour and beat until smooth.




Stir in 3 more cups of flour. Begin kneading the dough, adding the final cup of flour. If the dough seems too sticky, knead in more flour, a quarter to a half cup at a time.

Let the dough "rest" for 15 to 20 minutes. (I leave it sitting on the counter and use the time to wash up the bowl and other utensils and to clean off the counter top.)




Roll the dough into a rectangle that's 24 to 30 inches long by about 16 inches wide.











Spread with soft butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.













Starting at the wide end, roll into a log.














Cut the cinnamon rolls into equal sized slices (approximately one inch wide each or slightly more) and place into two greased 9 x 13 pans. Put in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes (or until the cinnamon rolls are golden brown).

Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then turn out of the pans.



This recipes makes two dozen cinnamon rolls. If you want REALLY BIG cinnamon rolls, cut into 12 equal pieces 2 inches wide.

Total amount of time needed from start to finish (including time to bake) is about 2 hours.

Icing:
Sift about 4 cups of powdered sugar and add about 1 Tablespoon of milk for each cup of sugar.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Homemade Organic Shampoo

I am wanting to make our own shampoo. I found this recipe and I will try it when our shampoo supply is almost gone. In the mean time I will plant some chamomile. If you try it let me know what you think.


Chamomile Shampoo
  • 1 handful fresh or dried chamomile flowers
  • 1 3/4 cup boiling water
  • 3 tablespoons pure soap flake, OR save leftover pieces of soap.
  • 1 tablespoon glycerin
  • 5 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

Place the flowers in a bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let stand for 15 minutes, then strain into the other bowl. Clean the first bowl. Combine the soap and hot infusion in it. Let stand until the soap softens -- a few minutes. Beat in the glycerin and food coloring until well blended. Pour the mixture into the bottle. Keep in a cool dark place.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Homemade (SAFE) Oven Cleaner

I am trying out a new homemade oven cleaner.

In a spray bottle I mixed

about 1 1/2 Tbs of borax

1 cup of hot water

1/2 cup or so of vinegar

and a few drops of ultra concentrated dish soap.

I shook it up and sprayed it all over my oven.
I then sprinkled baking soda over the liquid.
I sprayed the mix again..... this time over the baking soda.

I'm going to leave it sit over night and tomorrow I should be able to use a warm wet rag to wash it off.

I'll let you know how it works.


UPDATE- The oven cleaner worked amazingly! It was so nice to just wipe it out without the horrible chemical smell. Try it you will love it!