Make It Monday (on Tuesday!): Laundry Soap

Here is my version of homemade laundry detergent! It's so simple and very frugal! This is the recipe that I use (it's stuck on the inside of one of my cupboards: You can find washing soda at most smaller grocery stores, the baking soda and borax you can find at big name stores like Wal Mart. I use any bar of soap that I can find, if you want unscented or a certain smell, choose your favorite soap! You can also customize this recipe to use a vegan soap. Grate the bar of soap with a cheese grater. Then I put all the ingredients together in my food processor and give it a whirl! Use 1 T per load, and store in an airtight container....

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What We Did This Week: Fire Safety and Armor of God

This was our first week of doing a routine for school. We learned about fire safety this week. We used some ideas from Confessions of a Homeschooler's Fire Safety post. It was great! Using candles, a spray bottle, a cup and a lighter we discussed what fire needs to "live". We showed what happened when you the the HEAT away by spraying the fire with water. We looked at what happens when the FUEL is gone (let the candle burn down to the bottom and it burns out). We also looked at what happens when AIR is taken away from a flame, it goes out! The kids thought it was really neat to watch the flame extinguish when the cup was over the candle. We also made a map of our house and talked...

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General Canning Guidelines

People tend to think that canning and preserving your own food is difficult, when in reality it is quite simple. Depending on what you are preserving there are a few specifics (canning fruit is different than making jam) but for the most part there are some simple rules to follow. Here is how I do it! Tip 1: Keep it HOT! Keeping your food, jars and lids hot prevents any bacteria from getting into your food. Tip 2: Work in Large Batches Although canning isn't difficult it is time consuming. Working with large batches of food makes the process quicker. Peeling, cutting and preparing is what takes the longest. Tip 3: Use good equipment Buying good canning jars (or inheriting them) is an...

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Recipe Collection: Southwest Veggie Dip

Recently I was enjoying some of my favourite store bought veggie dip, it was spicy it was smokey... it had chicken fat as one of the ingredients!? I almost gagged when I read through the ingredient list. How disappointing! I was craving some of that very dip yesterday, so I decided to try and make my own version of it and here it is! Spicy Southwest Veggie Dip: 1/2 container (8 oz.) Sour cream 1-2 T mayo (this is optional, some people steer clear of mayo) 1/4 onion minced 1 T garlic Powder (use less if you don't like a strong garlic taste) 1 t Paprika 1t Cumin 1 t parsley or cilantro 1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes salt to taste Combine all ingredients and let rest for about 1 hour,...

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Crayon Rainbow

You might have seen these around on the Internet, I saw it first on Pinterest. We got our instructions for it from Pink and Green Mama, she's pretty crafty and great! Here's what we did! You'll need: 2-3 boxes of crayons 1 large canvas hot glue and glue gun blow dryer We lined up the crayons in a rainbow (ROY GBIV!) and then hot glued them to the canvas (oops that one's sideways!) I figured taking it outside was best for clean up and messes. This part takes the longest. Hold your blow dryer about 2-3 inches away and wait! It's starting...  Look at it go!! Once it starts it really goes! Ours is much more blended than some I've seen.  W holding the...

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What We Did This Week!

This week we.... Counted to 10 and gathered objects for each number: Went to a local petting zoo and fed animals: Though about God's amazing creations! No my kids are not biking the wrong way on the road! We went to Bike Safety Town this week. A local park for kids to ride their bikes and learn about road safety! Used our new sketch books to document the fun we had at Bike Safety Town: We made I Love You cards for Daddy's lunch pail: Mommy cleaned her infamous junk pile on the counter, it is now somewhat under control again! We melted crayons to make art! And we tried to make Mayonnaise, and failed miserably! The lemon juice was bad......

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