One year and counting

It has been a little over a year since I have decided to create a list and complete it. In one year we have done a lot and there are still a lot of things that I want to complete.

I do need to keep posting more regularly and I am starting to see that I have more time to do things now that the babies play more independantly.

Currently, I am finding my creative side again!! I missed it. I have finished the drawing/sketching the sihoulette portrait of Madelyn and Grace that I started. Now I just have to paint and seal it. I am all done cutting the fabric for Madelyn's quilt and I hope to sew that while she is gone on a camping trip in the next few weeks. I have also started a scrap block quilt for my mom. I hope to have this done for her by Christmas. I am also working on my Christmas cards - that are clean simple designs. This makes it easy for mass production.

As time passes my kids tastes change. I started a Dinsey mural in my daughters playroom when we moved back into our house - since then Madelyn and Grace have decided to no share a room and toy room is now Madelyn's. Madelyn's new room is going to have a Tiedyed/Peace theme. The wall that the mural is drawn on is now going to be covered with tiedyed fabric wallpaper. So, I am not sure how to go about this part of my challenge. Either I start a new mural or I nix this from this list....I will ponder this for awhile. Also with the girls bedding projects that I started some time back (rather bought the stuff for it) is not being used for their original plans. I am lucky that I did not start Madelyns pillowcases - as now she is not interested in High School Musical anymore. So hers are going to be dyed for her new room. Grace's tinkerbell sheets were started and I think I can still finish those for her as she is young and likes anything girly.

To the weight part of this challenge. I had a very hard time with the Weight Watchers points - I spent too much time durning the day calculating points. With working and the kids and a busy schedule I need to try a different method. I know I need to limit my portions and be more active. I may try the weight watchers again, hopefully I will stick to it.

I hope that I can start posting some of these yummy recipes that I have found. It is canning season again so once all of that is done I will try to post them :)

I am glad that I am still actively trying to complete this challenge even if I am not posting as often as I'd like to. As I go through this next year I hope to accomplish more - I want to see more items in blue in the sidebar.

Thanks for the support!!

Happy New Year! It's about time I get on here and update! (I know its late!)

I have completed 3 more tasks on my list - made a quilt, went one month with no pop and we served Thanksgiving dinner at a soup kitchen.

Grace's quilt!

These are the girls on Thanksgiving eating after their hard work in the Soup Kitchen.

I have also made a bunch of yummy cookies and recipes! I will be sharing them in the next post!

The girls are getting excited - we have made our tradeable items for Geo-Caching. We made 14 ceramic tile magnants (for details on that go to http://www.stampingwithbettyboop.blogspot.com/). So we have 3 spots to locate - once Matt figures out the best GPS for us we are going to go on our excursion - I will be sure to take photos.

We also have started 2 more things on the list - Melaluca-nizing the home and Going Green - since these two things are the same. I purchased the Sol-u-mel all purpose cleaner, the fabric softener, diswashing detergent and Mela-gel. Let me tell you - so far so good. The fabric softener smells good, works good, and you use very little. The Sol-u-mel in full strength removes the permanant marker that has been on my kitchen table forever!! I also cleaned my bathroom with the Sol-u-mel - the sinks, counters, tub, toliet and shower - the soap scum, grime you name it - this stuff removed it! Since it is not a harsh product I did not gag the whole time while using it - no sneezing either!!! The dishwashing detergent also seems to be working well - and you use half the amount that a regular store brand. Lastly, the Mela-gel - an anticeptic gel - is AWESOME! Brooke got stung by a bee we think and she was screaming to the point of not breating - that gel was put right on the stink and she was perfect. The swelling went down in a very minimal amount of time and she didn't seem to be bothered by anyone touching the spot. That is awesome!

The quilt and camper projects have been at a standstill with all of the family events we have been doing together - the fair, air show, starting school etc. As soon we get back to these projects I should have something to update you on!

Lastly, I think we finished up with the last of the potatoes - so I wanted to share how I processed all of it for freezing:

Mashed potatoes: I decided to do homestyle potatoes because I did not have to peel them - so I washed and cut up a large pot of potatoes - boiled until ready. Once I drained the potatoes I poured them into a large bowl - I mashed the potatoes to the partly lumpy stage mainly because I made so much of them. I added milk and mixed well. Then I separated the potatoes into gallon sized ziplock bags. Smooched them flat getting as much air out as possible. I made 3 ziplock bags of potatoes and the store nicely in the freezer. To prepare to eat - I thawed the potatoes, poured into a bowl - microwaved for about 10 minutes - added seasoning,butter and milk - mixed well with a mixer and well-la yummy mashed potatoes.

French Fries/hashbrowns/potato wedges etc.: wash and peel potatoes if desired - cut into fries - blanch fries in boiling water for about 5 minutes - once they are well drained place in a single layer on a cooking sheet. I put them into the freezer for about 1-2 hours. Then I pour them into ziplock bag. Pre-freezing in a single layer allows you to take and cook what you need and they are not stuck together. If they do start to stick you are able to tap the bag on the counter to break them up. You can cook these potatoes as desired.

I have seasoned fries made up too - after they were blanched, drained I pour the seasoning over the potatoes on the cookie sheets before putting in the freezer. When ready to use - throw into the over at 350 to bake for about 20-30 minutes.

A quick update!

I have been pretty busy like normal. But I have my mom set up on a waiting list for low income housing and a meeting with Social Security - tomorrow I will take her to get signed up etc. I placed my first Melaluca order to start the process of Melaluca-nizing my home - I got fabric softener, dishwasher detergent and some SolUMel oh and some Mela-gel. Brooke got stung/bit by something on Saturday and that gel took the sting out right of her hand. She calmed in seconds. I also have 2 of the 3 colors cut for Grace's quilt. I am thinking at the rate that I am moving I may be able to make each girl a quilt for their birthdays. Since, they have been watching the process I am going to try to find a way to dress it up so they will still be surprised when they get them. Matt has also made a lot of progress on the camper. The entire lid to the pop up has been reframed and put back together - now he is working on the front end of it where there was some damage. Lastly, I shot a gun this past weekend. It was a small handgun - forgive me for not knowing what it was but Matt is going to teach me to use his shotgun as well. I did hit the target even got a 'kill' shot on the sheet - I promise to get some of this stuff photographed to show all of you!

Another busy weekend…but I am starting to feel that I am accomplishing some of the things that I have set out to do.

*helped Matt when possible with the camper
*spent time with my mom
*started a quilt
*made laundry soap
*planned 2 wks worth of meals for a more organized shopping trip
*use more of my potatoes
*used my over ripe bananas before they hit the trash

On Friday, I thought it was Grace’s preschool orientation – well I get there (dressed nicely and with make up on J ) to find out that orientation was this coming up Thursday! Duh – I need to pay more attention! Well – I already had plans to pick up my mom to come to my house for the weekend. I helped her apply for social security, section 8 etc. So we went and picked her up a little earlier.

On Saturday, we all swam together and the Babies and I cheered Matt through the ‘fixer upper’ part of this camper process. I also made homemade french-fries to go with our dinner Saturday night.

On Sunday, I finally got out the hambones from the freezer and made a pot of Bean and Ham soup and Ham and Potato soup. I sent the majority of the Potato soup home with my mom so she would have something to eat, as I have no clue what she actually has. I made a loaf of banana bread, planned my dinner menus for 2 wks and made laundry soap concentrate that will make 10 gallons of detergent. I also started cutting the fabric for my first quilt - I will post the photos as I make a little more progress.

I wanted to crunch the $$ value of what the savings would be to our family. We typically buy a 92 (but in theory is really about 56 loads on average) load container of tide for around $20 every month. (about 36 cents a load)

Borax 3.36
Soda 2.16
2 bars of Dove Burst soap 2.97

This equates to $3.51 per 10 gallons of detergent (160 loads) = just around 2 cents per load…So the bottom line is we went from spending $20 a month to about an average of $1.17 a month for laundry detergent for a $14.04 a year to wash our laundry based on regular usage. I think that is AWESOME!

Laundry Soap Recipe
The Dry Version: (Thanks Wendy for sending this me!)
1 bar Fels Naptha Soap, finely grated1 cup Washing Soda1 cup Borax
Mix well and store in an airtight plastic container.
Use 2 tablespoons per full load

The Liquid Version:
1 bar Fels Naptha Soap, finely grated, 1 cup Washing Soda, 1 cup Borax
Grate soap into a small saucepan. Cover with hot water. Cook over medium low heat, stirring continually, until the soap completely dissolves. Put washing soda and borax in a 5 gallon bucket. Pour in the hot, melted soap mixture. Stir well, until all the powder is dissolved. Fill the bucket to the top with more hot tap water. Stir, cover securely, and let set overnight. The next morning, stir the mixture. Mix equal amounts of soap concentrate and water in a dispenser container. Shake before using. Use 1 cup per load.

**I used 2 bars of soap for the smell and suds factor - I could not find the Fels Naptha so I hope this works - from what I read it should.

Today, I decided to make homemade Salisbury Steak – something we typically buy prepackaged. It turned out wonderful! Here is the recipe:
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large bowl, mix together 1/3 cup condensed French onion soup with ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, salt and black pepper. Shape into 6 oval patties.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown both sides of patties. Pour off excess fat.
3. In a small bowl, blend flour and remaining soup until smooth. Mix in ketchup, water, Worcestershire sauce and mustard powder. Pour over meat in skillet. Cover, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
I doubled the sauce, kept the ketchup amount the same. I also could not find this onion soup so I used dry onion soup mix and 10 oz of water (in addition to the ¼ cup water) Then I added dry beef onion soup mix to the gravy mixture. The kids loved it. After I fried them up in the pan I baked them in the over at 350 for 1 hour.

Lastly, I made the best chocolate chip cookies! I have been reading a lot about cookies to find the best combination of ingredients and I think I found it for my cookie recipe of the month! Here is the recipe:

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.