Being a Woman of Virtue... Doing!

I hold a few things in my life top priority. God is NUMBER 1. Most definitely. My husband, is also deservingly, number 2. Then of course my beautiful and energetic boys. And the rest of my family and my close church friends are next.

As I look to what God wants me to be, and what he requires of me. I am EVERY TIME taken back to Proverbs 31, to the Virtuous Woman. And each time, I am reminded of how important it is to hold the things that our grandmothers did, close to our hearts. I am constantly challenged by this. Things like making more food from scratch. Yeah, we have busy days, but even in those days, if I make sure I have a meal planned ahead of time, I can still make something fairly easy from scratch (or close to it). This isn't just a luxury anymore, this is almost a necessity if you want to eat healthy. Also things like learning to sew, even just simple sewing. I know MANY people who do not own a sewing machine. They just don't know how to sew. And that is probably most of you also. But I think sewing is a skill that we should have even if it is very basic! I bought my machine for $79 at Wal-Mart about 6 or 7 years ago, and I have used it in a small business and for simple things around my own house. I learned to sew in home ec. class in Middle school. Let me tell you, it was very basic! I NEVER again used that skill until I got my own machine ! So with about 15 years in between, I had to learn most things over. And I was able to do it, and sew curtains for my house! I didn't even have a pattern. I have slowly improved my "skills" to even make robes for the boys and other kids in our family this last Christmas. Saved a lot of money, and ended up being a lot nicer than what I would have been able to buy on our "budget". What about gardening? Or caring for animals, like chickens, who could produce a product your family could use? Are these skills going to be lost on our grandparents generation?

I want to encourage you, as I have before, to learn SOMETHING new. And keep doing it, even if you don't succeed the first time (or the second!). If your grandmothers are still alive, even better, learn something from THEM! My grandmother was able to teach me to crochet before she past away 2 years ago, and whenever I sit, relax and use that skill, I think of her.

Being a woman of Virtue includes DOING... She works with her HANDS... Be challenged by this today. Not only will you be able to pick up a valuable skill that you could someday pass on to your daughters, but you are carrying on a legacy. And SOMEDAY, you will be glad you learned your new skill!

I have been wanting to learn to Knit for the longest time. And I have a sweet neighbor woman who is willing to teach me! I am excited!

What new skill would you LOVE to learn?

Baking Day!

As I mentioned about a week and a half ago, I was planning on having some baking/ non-baking days. Well, I had them last week!

I wanted to get some pictures posted, so you could see what we are enjoying!

I also want to encourage you, if you say your not good at baking or whatever, if you have the desire, KEEP TRYING! No one does it all perfectly every time! In fact, I had a recipe for bread last week, and I made it 2 times and it NEVER came out! I have 2 days on a row of flat bread. But on the third day, I decide to try a different recipe so I could make sure I wasn't letting this recipe defeat me! SO I tried another recipe, and it worked wonderfully!

Here is the 2 loaves of bread I make and some rolls I also make with the remaining dough:

And here are some of the delightful noodles that myself, my mom and sister Katie made:

I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of my dehydrator! I was able to dry them out a lot quicker in there! I am SO thankful for it! And the noodles are DELICIOUS!

Get in the kitchen and try something new~ You will be glad and your family will be amazed! =)

Non-Baking Day and a Baking Day

I haven't had a baking day in a while, and I definitely need to. Especially with the weather getting warm (finally!). Here are some reasons a baking day is a good idea:

• Get all baking done in one afternoon, and have baked goods ready to eat when needed over the next few weeks.


• Get all baking done in one afternoon, so your kitchen isn't hot day after day. You just have one afternoon to contend with. So make it a cooler day, start in the early morning!


• FRUGAL! Baking your own items is a lot cheaper then purchasing them in the store.


• HEALTHY! The items you make are most likely more healthy for your family also.

In the next few days, here are the items I want to make on a "Baking Day":

• muffins for breakfasts (this will cut down on the cereal consumption if I don't wake before the kids do).


• Tortillas for tacos


• Granola Bars (wonderful recipe coming soon!!!)

I also want to have a Non-baking day, where I make things that don't require the use of the oven. Here is what I hope to make:

• homemade noodles


• dehydrated peaches and apples (for snacking).

Do YOU have baking days? If not, you should try it out. Last time I did it, I had rolls that lasted in the freezer for about a month, and it was wonderful to pull them out last minute for an extra side to our meal.

Happy Baking!

Homemade- Raw Sugar Scrub

It is no doubt getting warmer where I live. And as I bring out the shorts and sandals, I notice how rough and dry my skin and feet have been all winter! And instead of heading to the store to spend too much on a product to get rid of the dry, that you just won't be happy with, I suggest you make your own. I suggest you make a sugar scrub for those dry heals and dry legs, it's great on hands too!

I know I have bought some scrub from a home beauty party, and frankly, it smelled like pure gasoline... So, I have also looked around on the Internet for a better alternative. And if I find a recipe that sounds good, it usually includes something that I have no idea where I am going to find it. Or it includes something that will cost more then the "gasoline" that I had bought.

But, I did find one recipe that I have been completely happy with. I have all of the ingredients. It is CHEAP! Gotta love that. And it works great! There isn't much of a smell, but you could add essential oils if you wanted.

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Here is how to make it:

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Raw Sugar Scrub

1 C. Raw sugar or Granulated Sugar (I use granulated)

1/4 C. Walnut oil or light oil ( I have used Canola oil recently)

1/2 tsp. vitamin E oil (from vitamin E gel caps, I just clip the end and squeeze out the oil.)

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Mix together the ingredients in a glass or ceramic bowl. Spoon into a clean jar or plastic container with a tight fitting lid.

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To use: Message a tablespoon or two onto your rough spots, or all over body to gently exfoliate and moisturize. Store any remaining scrub in a cool, dry place. You may need to stir between uses. This actually stays good for a few months.

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Makes: about 10 oz. or enough for about 4-5 full body treatments

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I was reading about sugar, and it's use in a scrub. And sugar is quickly replacing salt as a scrub of choice in high end spas because it is not as dehydrating and it can be used for all skin types. Body scrubs are great for your because it actually helps to stimulate your circulation, it counter acts stress, helps get rid of excess body fluid, and energizes your whole system.

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So, try it out! This is great for all times of year! Let me know how you like it!

Homemade- Noodles!

I remember when I was younger, about 28 years ago, my great-grandma (who lived right beside us), always made lots of delicious goodies. One of the favorites was her noodles. After she went home to be with the Lord, we would buy noodles from this older lady that lived not too far from us. I remember how much of a treat that was. She had a huge freezer and when people would stop by for noodles, she would go into that big freezer and pull out bags of noodles.

Yesterday, I asked a friend to come over and show me HOW to make noodles. I had bought a "noodle maker" several years ago, off of Ebay, but just never used it. I didn't know how! The directions were mostly in Italian! I bought a Marcato, which I guess is suppose to be pretty good.

So, my friend Andrea came over, and brought her Kitchenaid Mixer with Noodle maker attachments, that her grandma had got her.

There are really 3 ways you could make noodles, if you desired. One is like my friend, you can get attachments for your Kitchenaid. Or you can do like I did, get a noodlemaker from somewhere like Ebay. Or you can roll out and cut noodles by hand.

First, we started with unbleached flour and fresh eggs:

We used flour, small bit of salt and baking powder, water and eggs!

You knead the dough a bit to get it mixed, then let it rest for about 20 minutes, then you cut it into smaller balls and let those rest for a bit longer.

After the smaller balls rest, you take them through your "roller" in you noodle maker. You do this several times in order to make sure they are not too sticky, and to make sure they are mixed well! IF you were doing this by hand it would end up looking probably the same way, here:

Then, it's time to cut, when those are a little drier and not sticky at all. It's funny, pretty quickly you can feel the ones that are dry and ready.

Then you cut! You can do this with your noodle maker, or I am sure it would do well by hand also. Just cut with a sharp knife or pizza cutter. We didn't have any drying racks, or even much room to dry the noodles, so we dried them on baking sheets like this:

Every 5 minutes or so, we would "fluff" them a bit, so they wouldn't stick together and so they would dry faster.

I left my noodles out overnight, and they dried. My friend suggested that I freeze them though, because IF all of the moisture is not out of the noodles, they will mold. =( So, you can freeze them, I put my in Ziploc baggies.

Then when it is time to eat, take them out and cook them like you would any other noodles!

Have you ever made noodles? Do you remember your grandmother or great-grandmother making noodles? I know my hubby said he remembers his mom making noodles, with a bunch of Mennonite women from their church. Have you ever ate homemade noodles? What is your favorite way to eat them?

Hope you learned something, or at least was able to take a walk down memory lane! We will be enjoying these noodles tonight!

Family Favorite, Baked Oatmeal

This is definitely a family favorite, baked oatmeal. I love it because you can prepare it the night before, and cook it in the morning. I have to also tell you, I am not such a fan of regular homemade oatmeal, but I love this. Try it out, it healthy and easy!

Baked Oatmeal

• 1 C. oil (or applesauce, or you can use half and half~ all applesauce seems not enough for this recipe, so I wouldn't do more then half applesauce/half oil)

• 1 1/2 C. sugar

• 4 eggs

• 6 C. Oats (Old Fashioned)

• 4 tsp. baking powder

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1 (heaping) tsp. cinnamon

• 2 C. milk

* we add frozen blueberries that we picked last summer. You can also add any other fruit that you would like.

Combine all ingredients together, in order. Pour into a 9 x 13" pan. (at this point you can put, covered, in your refrigerator to bake in the AM) Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until lightly browned. Can serve topped with butter, brown sugar & milk. We love it topped with milk! (You can also refrigerate left overs, and heat and eat the next morning!)

The total cost of this is less then $2 to make! This feeds my family for 2 breakfasts!

Enjoy!

And if you would like to see what else I am doing this week, I am blogging over HERE at Happy to be at Home~ Kitchen of the Week. So all week long follow me HERE and see what we are doing in the kitchen!

Homemade Granola

I have seen many, many ways to making granola. And basically you just have to go with what you like. I found one that we really like. It is healthy, we have everything on hand, and it has passed the taste test here!

I have posted this before, WAAAYY back when I started posting (no really THAT long ago...). But I thought I would post again, because I am going to be making this again myself, request of my husband.

So, here it is:

Homemade Granola

• 6 C. Old Fashioned Oats


• 3 C. Whole Wheat Flour


• 1 Tbsp. Salt


• 1 C. Olive oil


• 1/2 C. Water


• 1 C. honey-


• Can also add nuts, dried fruit, cinnamon and vanilla

• Place on baking sheet & cook for 50 minutes at 250 degrees, turning mixture 4 times during the baking process. Cool and add dried fruit if desired. Keep in zip lock bags.

Yummy!!!! The cost of making that is going to be around $2-3. You can get a 6 cup container of oats for around $1 on sale (at least around here in Indiana!). And the rest of the ingredients are very minimal.

I get my honey from my uncle who raises bees. He is probably as close to organic as you can get, without saying you are organic. If anyone is interested, I can get you his information. I got a 2 lb. refillable jar for $5. If you take it back to be refilled, it will cost you $4.50. Mmmmm.....

The nice thing about this is you can kind of tweak it yourself, doing whatever you like with it! This is ESPECIALLY AWESOME while it is warm. I can't wait to make it! =) Note: this is also VERY FILLING. So don't pour a big ol' bowl and expect you're going to eat the same amount as you do in other cereals, because I doubt you will be able to!

Enjoy!

Also, check out the Grocery Cart Challenge for more great recipes!

Homemade- Play dough

In sharing with you some of the things that my family (I should say my BOYS) enjoys to make for keeping and giving, is play dough. They will play with this stuff all day long. I give them a table cloth on the table and a plastic spoon and some cookie cutters and they are set! I don’t have to be afraid that if this falls on the floor that my baby will eat it. Because if it does end up on the floor, it will not hurt him. All ingredients are baking ingredients that won’t hurt him.

So here is the recipe. And don’t be afraid to let your kids help you!

Homemade Playdough

• 2 C. Water


• 1 C. Salt


• 4 tsp. cream of tartar


• 4 Tbsp. vegetable oil


• 2 C. flour

For coloring: use a packet of koolaid (this also smells really good!)

In a large pot, begin with water, koolaid, oil, salt and cream of tartar. When mixture is warm, add flour and mix well. This may be slightly lumpy- but keep stirring until it forms a ball and pulls away from the sides. Remove from pan and let cool.

This is fun to play with while it is warm too, especially on a cold day! Store in an airtight container. Will keep for a long time!

Like I said this is great to give as gifts to kids.

Here is a Spring Idea for you: Take the bags that you use to pump frosting on to decorate cakes with ( you know the cone shaped bags), and fill with some orange play dough. Tie off the top with a green piece of fabric or ribbon. Cut off access bag. This makes a very cute looking carrot!

Frugal Laundry

You all know how expensive laundry detergent is. Well, it's not THAT bad. You can usually find a sale on detergent for $1.99 for 35 loads. But did you realize that you will RARELY get 35 loads out of that? I fill my washer full and I fill the detergent in the cap up to the top line or almost the top line, and I will get way less out of it. SO if you are figuring the cost to be like $.05 a load or something, figure again. I started by marking my bottle with a marker every load of laundry I did.

My mom told me about making laundry soap and this recipe that she found. She has been using it a while and says it works! I am also going to be doing this very soon. So, here is the recipe:

• 1/3 bar of Fels Naptha soap
• 1/2 cup Borax powder
• 1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
• a bucket
• water

I have found all of these ingredients at my Kroger.

First, grate 1/3 of the soap and put it into a saucepan.

Add 6 cups of water and heat until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and borax, stirring until it is dissolved. Pour 4 cups hot tap water into your bucket. Add your soap mixture and stir it together. Add another 22 cups of water and stir to combine. Let the soap cool and set up for about 12-24 hours. The finished product jells up. It won't have a normal consistency. Part of it will be like jello and part will remain liquid. It's all the same thing and dissolves in the laundry tub. No need to try and break it up.
Each load takes about 1/2 cup of laundry soap.

I have also found the same recipe on The Grocery Cart Challenge, and she explains what each ingredient does:

• Borax cleans, deodorizes, disinfects and softens the water.
• Washing soda cuts grease and neutralizes odors.
• Fels Naptha is a stain remover.

On The Grocery Cart Challenge, she also has a recipe for Homemade dryer sheets, that I found. Here is her recipe:

Homemade Dryer Sheets

• 2 cups of water
• 1 cup of vinegar
• 2/3 cups of any hair conditioner

I stirred mine together in an empty baby wipe container. Don’t shake, this will cause foaming. Soak a cloth rag (I used an old clean wash cloth) and ring it out until slightly damp. Then throw it into the dryer with your load of clothes.

This can also be used as a liquid fabric softener in the rinse cycle.

I have been using this for about a week now and it has worked great! I bought Suave conditioner from the Dollar Store, and used about 1/3 for this recipe. I had a ginormous bottle of vinegar, so that cost me pennies. So all in all, the recipe cost less then $.50 for about 20 loads (maybe more loads! I don't know exactly yet). It would be even less if I used some of the conditioner that I got for free from CVS.

SO, there you go. Frugal laundry! I can't wait to try the laundry soap. Supposedly it is about a penny a load! I love the idea of these also because I know EXACTLY what is in them.

Would YOU try these recipes?

Homemade- Rice Neck Warmer

A little background for you. I got my first job when I was a sophomore in high school, and then started the love of money. I didn't have any bills so I spent money on things like clothes, and well, more clothes... I had no concept of money at all. Now, 17 years later (oh my goodness!), I have a new respect for the green stuff. And I try not to waste a bit of it.

I have also always been pretty artistic, in fact I went to college for drawing. From there, I discovered the love of being able to "make" things. After I got married, it was my husband extremely cheap ways that made me morph into the person I am today. He would say, "well let's not spend our money on that because you could make THAT!". And usually he was right, if the desire was there, I could usually figure out how to make it.

So, today here I am writing in a blog for all of blogland to see, and I am writing on how to explore this "lost art" of making things by hand, instead of paying an arm and probably a leg, to buy it.

If you have any ideas or anything that you would like to know how to make easily, e-mail me or leave a comment here. I have lots of things we can talk about, but I can always use a challenge!

And today I am going to give you a little step-by-step on how to make a Rice Neck Warmer. These make GREAT gifts, and you would probably end up paying at least 4-5x's more then what it is going to cost you to make one.

Estimated cost of this depends. Fabric can be around a $1. Rice will be probably about $2-3.

So to start:

Get a plain cotton fabric for the inside bag (this will hold the rice, and will not be seen.). Then also get a softer cotton fabric for the outside (this will "house" the inside bag with the rice in it).

Here are the 2 I chose for this warmer:

I got the flower fabric for the outside and the plain fabric for the inside. From each of the fabrics you will need 1 (one) piece approx. 22'' long by 11'' wide, so one from the flower fabric and one from the plain.

Take your plain fabric, and fold it long ways. This does not have to be perfect! Notice, mine is definitely not!

You are going to start sewing (with a sewing machine~if you don't have one, borrow one! This is gonna be EASY!).

You are going to sew the long side first. Followed by one of the short sides, notice I said ONE of the short sides- NOT BOTH. This will sew the bag shut and defeat the whole purpose! =)

When you are done, it should look something like this. Notice, this is not perfect, and it does not have to be! As long as it will hold rice, that is all we care about!

Notice, the far end is unsewn!

Now turn your bag inside out (so the seam is on the inside).

Now, fill the bag with about 4 cups of rice, or your bag should be about 1/2 full. If you do any more then that it won't fit around your neck very well!

At this point you can add dried lavender or some other dried herbs, to make it smell good when heated.

Turn the open end of the bag in. So the edge of the bag goes inside.

Now, you will sew the top shut.

Now take the outside fabric, and turn one of the short edges down about an inch, and sew.

Take your fabric, and fold the fabric longways, just like the other bag. This time make sure the outside of the fabric is turned toward each other. You want the inside of the fabric on the outside, so we can sew it then turn it inside out.

Take this, and now sew along the long edge first (notice our turned down and sewn edge?). Then sew the other short edge.

It should look like this when you are finished. The far edge is sewn. The long edge is sewn, and the short edge closest to us is sewn over and OPEN!

Now, turn it inside out, and inspect your good work!

Now the fun part! Put the rice bag inside the outer bag!

And here it is! The final product! Pat yourself on the back for a job well done!

And another way to reward yourself right now, is to heat this puppy up!

Stick your rice neck warmer in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Make sure you test this our before you give it to a child, to make sure it doesn't get too hot. After 2 minutes, pull your rice neck warmer out of the microwave. It will probably smell like rice, and that's OK! It will be less strong the more you use it. It also may be a little damp feeling the first time or two. This is normal also!

One nice feature of this is that if you need to wash the outside cover, you can just slip it off and throw it into the washer. When it's done, slip it back on and use it again! You can also use this as a cold pack.

I hope you try this out! You will be glad you did!

Coming Soon!