Week 1 of Cold Lunches

Week one went better than expected with my cold lunch experiment. My oldest was embarrassed to have to take a cold lunch to middle school. But by Tuesday at lunch her friends were asking about it. They asked her if she was trying to eat healthier. Now, she is just a little wisp of a thing as it is, so she told them she was eating healthier so that she would stay in shape. She told them that Wednesday she was having a peanut butter sandwich and a salad, so they wanted to bring cold lunch the next day too. All her friends at her table brought a salad the next day too. Now that she realizes that it is not an embarrassment to bring cold lunch, she is embracing it and trying to help her friends eat healthier in the process.

Here is what we had for the week:

Monday:
Ham & Cheese Pasta Salad (click for recipe I used)
Yogurt
Popcorn (left over from the weekend)
Chocolate Chip Cookie (won at the church cake walk the day before)

Tuesday:
Ham Salad Sandwich (recipe below)
Cheesestick
Applesause
Pickle
Cookies (7 nilla wafers)

Wednesday:
Peanut butter sandwich
Salad with cucumbers (organic spring mix $3.99)
Babybel Cheese
Pears (kids) Apple (adults)

Thursday:
Two pizza slices (left over Little Ceasers from dinner)
Apple
Carrots & ranch dip

Friday:
Hot lunch

With each of the meals, the kids had a choice of milk, 100% juice or water with their lunches. They picked those the morning of, depending on their mood. I made the lunches up the night before, so when my husband got them on the bus all he had to do was their beverage of choice and add an ice pack to their bags. He thought it was easy, and with my menu posted on the side of the fridge, everybody knew what they were having the whole week. I think week 1 was a success! Got to go, working on my Week 2 menu right now. What a way to plan ahead and use up what I already have in the house.


Ham Salad recipe:

1 pound pre-cooked ham (I used turkey ham this time)
1 cup mayo
4 pickles
2 small white onions

I have an attachment on my stand mixer that is a grinder, my mother uses an old fashioned cast iron hand grinder. Both work well, you just want a good grinder to get the right consistency.

Grind up ham, onion and pickles into a large bowl. Add in mayo, and stir completely. Add a little more mayo if it seems to dry still. Refrigerate covered for up to one week.

You can add different flavors to your families liking. I have added different mustards, sweet pickles, and spices to make it a little different each time. But the plain recipe above is still my families favorite. It lasts for at least a week in the fridge, but you may have to stir it up before each use. Great on sandwiches, Ritz crackers and toasted bagels. Plus I have caught my husband eating it with just a spoon right out of the bowl :)

Crock-Pot Recipes

Did you sign up for the Christmas Cookies Recipes by e-mail a few months ago? The same site is now offering crock-pot recipes, one every week until Easter. They are all tested in regular home kitchens, and are chosen by the easiest to prepare, and best tasting of the bunch. What a great way to try a new meal once a week, without much work involved!

You can sign up for the e-mails here.

Homemade - Beauty Supplies

This is a whole area that can be covered - beauty supplies. There is a recipe for everything out there if you just look. Here is what I have tried, and my personal opinion about them.

Homemade Biore strips:

Basically smear Elmer's white glue on your face, let dry & peel off like a Biore strip.My opinion: It's ok. It was fun to do with the kids, makes your skin smoother, but I don't think it actually removes the icky stuff in your pores. But it was good for a laugh!

Homemade shampoo & conditioner:

1 tablespoon baking soda & little bit of water for the shampoo. Half & half vinegar & water for the conditioner. My opinion: I tried it for a week, but I miss the suds and smells of regular shampoo & conditioner. It does make your hair feel lighter, but I think I am only going to use this in a real pinch, or maybe when we are "roughing it" camping.

Stretching your Hairspray:

If you use a pump bottle of hair spray, did you know you can mix it half and half with water to make it go further? It still works as good a full strength, but you get twice as much this way!

There are tons out there, but this is what I have tried. Personally I think getting new things at CVS & Walgreens for free is the easiest way to stay beautiful & try new things. I have so many new face creams, make-ups and hair products that I have snagged for free, I think I will stick to store bought beauty supplies.....for now.

Do you have a favorite homemade beauty product. Leave a comment and let us know what has worked (or not worked) for you.

Homemade Cleaners - All Purpose Cleaner

This is one of my newest and favorite cleaners. I use it to clean off the kitchen table, counter tops and even spot cleaning the floor. I am sure it can be used in tons of more places, but I have just started using it.

All Purpose Cleaner

1 spray bottle

3 cups hot water

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 teaspoons Borax

1/4 teaspoon liquid dish soap

I just dumped everything into the spray bottle & mixed. I would recommend that you mix it before you add the dish soap. If you add the soap with the other ingredients it makes it really bubbly. Next time I am going to mix the water, borax & vinegar first until the borax dissolves, then add the soap and mix gently again.

Update: I did use the 1:1 olive oil & vinegar as a wood polish. I used 2 teaspoons of each and it was just enough for my kitchen table. It did take quite a bit of elbow grease to polish it in, but it looks great. I will definitely use this recipe again!

Homemade Cleaning Supplies - Wood

Now I know it is not spring yet, heck it just officially became winter a couple of weeks ago. But there is something about the new year that makes me want to do spring cleaning. We have had snow here in Minnesota for a month now, so it feels like spring should be coming. Sadly, we will have to wait three more months.

I have lived in my house for just over 5 years now. We had our house plans drawn up and watched in the building of our dream home. I have beautiful light maple cabinets throughout the kitchen. Growing up with oak cabinets, I wanted something lighter and brighter. But lighter shows dirt and stains more. Sure I have spot cleaned the cabinets whenever some food explodes or the kids get messy. But I have never really cleaned them all from top to bottom before. Gross I know, but it's the truth. I remember helping my Mom every spring wash down all the wood in the house.

Well, I was having my whole family over for a Christmas party, and the house was disgusting. It is amazing how dirty a house can get when you go back to work full-time. Isn't the house supposed to be cleaner when nobody is home during the day? Anyway, I decided to tackle cleaning all the cupboards in the kitchen. Here is how I did it inexpensively and eco-friendly.

Wood Cleaner:

Murphy's Oil Soap & Water!

Yes that's it. 1/4 cup Muprhy's Oil Soap and 1 gallon warm water. You can even use an old t-shirt as a rag. This stuff is an amazing cleaner, and it is safe for the environment. I even think I got it for next to nothing at Walgreen's with coupons a few months ago.

Here is what you can clean with it:

wood floors

cabinets

tables & chairs

paneling

laminate floors

bookcases & wood furniture

no-wax floors

ceramic floors

even cars and vinyl.

This stuff works on everything. No, I am not being paid to say this, I just really like it!

Now this one I have not tried yet, due to not having any really "good" wood furniture to try it on.

Furniture Polish:

Mix olive oil and vinegar 1:1 ratio, and polish wood furniture with a soft cloth.

(Sounds like a good salad dressing too). I just use the Murphy's and clean the wood, I have never really polished my wood. But this would take the place of the chemical ridden spray polishes. But once again, I have not used this one before. I would try it on a small underneath part of the furniture just to make sure it won't hurt your furniture!

I suddenly have the itch to go polish my kitchen table, and maybe have a salad too!

Make it Yourself - Laundry Soap

Recipe #2

Laundry Soap

I have been using this laundry soap recipe for a few months now, and it works great too. Again, I have well and septic and it is safe for septic systems, and good with well water too.

What you need:

5 Gallon bucket
long spoon (wood or plastic)
spaghetti pot
measuring cups
empty gallon milk jug
empty laundry soap containers (optional)
1/3 bar Fels Naphtha soap
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax
lots of water



How to make it:



I could never find a bar of Fels Naphtha soap, so I used 1 full bar of regular soap. Try to use soap without any lotions, scents and as little color as possible. Grate the bar of soap. I used my stand mixer with the grated cheese attachment (real fun!). In the spaghetti pot add 6 cups of water and the grated soap. Cook, stirring constantly, until is melts. Add the washing soda and the borax, and stir again until they are dissolved. Turn your sink onto hot water and let run until it gets real hot. At this point remove from the heat and pour the whole pot into the 5 gallon bucket. On top of the soap mixture add 4 cups of HOT water, stir. Add one full gallon of water (milk jug full), plus another 6 cups of water. Stir, stir, stir.





Let the soap sit over night, cover to keep animals & little ones out of it! It will turn into a gelly gloppy mess. Stir one more time. I then use a large funnel and a measuring cup to pour it into my old laundry soap containers. Be careful not to fill it to the top.





When you go to use the soap, I just give it a good shake to loosen up the gel again, and fill the top cap. Just like regular store bought laundry soap. If you have room, you could also just have the 5 gallon bucket in your laundry room, and use a half cup measuring cup for each load.





I do not have a powdered laundry soap recipes, due to having a front loading machine. But I can check into them, and have one of my neighbors do the testing of it. I will let you know at a later date about it. If anybody has a fabric softener recipe, that is what I really need next.

Next week: basic cleaning solutions.

Make it Yourself to Save Money - Dishwasher Detergent

Sorry for the week absence. I have had two of the kids home with a stomach flu (I will spare you the details). Plus with all the last minute preparations for Christmas, it has been a little crazy around here.

But what I now want to share with you is how to save money by making things yourself...for less.

#1 Dishwasher Detergent

This is the easiest one, which is why I started here. My 9 year old son is now in charge of making our dishwasher detergent when we run out.

What you need:

box of borax (laundry soap isle)

big box of baking soda (Wal-mart laundry isle)

container of table salt

Rubbermaid 32oz or larger drinking bottle

funnel

Here is all you have to do to make it:

Pour 1 1/2 cup Borax into bottle using the funnel,

add 1 1/2 cup baking soda,

add 1 cup of salt.

Cap the bottle and shake well.

That's it. I just fill the regular wash and the extra clean wash bins on the dishwasher door, and turn it on. It washes just as good as the expensive stuff, plus it even scrubs off the gunk that the kids don't scrap off. I have a well and septic system at my home, and it is totally safe for septic systems too.

I have not done the math on how much it costs per batch to make, but I know it has to be tons cheaper than the store bought stuff. We have been using ours for three months now. I would not tell you how to make something if I have not been using it myself. So be assured, it is safe and works great. I would however keep it out of reach of little ones due to the borax!

Next week I will share my homemade laundry soap experiences and recipe.

Free Christmas Cookies Recipies

Just a quick mid-week note to let you know you can get 25 days of Christmas Cookies e-mailed right to your computer. Everyday they will e-mail you a new cookie recipe. They are pre-tested so they should work for even the most inexperienced baker.

Click here to sign up today!

Wow....Life Changing

Two pretty amazing things happened in our house last night that will change our family forever.

No, I am not pregnant!

#1 Both Ali & Matt got contact lenses. I brought them in to get a new eyeglass prescription, and when the question about contacts came up, I left it up to the kids. We had talked about them, I just thought we were going to try to wait until middle school (they are 4th & 5th grades right now). They both seemed excited to try them out, so we went for it. The very patient and nice Doctor put the first ones in their eyes, and they fell in love with them, smiling from ear to ear. They were both able to take two out and put two back in within just 5 or so minutes.

So it is official, my kids have grown up. They are both wearing contacts, and hopefully all will go well with them when they need to get them in before school.

#2 I learned how to make homemade bread. I have made bread from scratch before, but to be honest, it was never very good. I made it to Savers on Labor Day for their 50% off sale. After I was finished looking for clothes for the kids this blog I read at Leaving Excess popped into my head. She said that you should pick up a bread maker second hand. "I am at a thrift store" I thought, "let's see if they have any". Well they had one, it was marked $14.99 so I paid $7.50 for it. The best part is it was brand new. The outside was dirty from sitting on somebody counter top, but the inside had never been used.

I bought a box bread machine dough to try first, and it turned out pretty good. So I cleaned it up and tackled a real recipe for oat bread. It was wonderful! I could have eaten the whole loaf if nobody was around. Here is the recipe that I used.

So not major life shattering, but both were a big deal in our household last night. The kids look funny without their glasses, and I will be making homemade bread every other day now. Funny how life troughs little curve balls at you, but they are fun to catch.

"Meatballs" for Dessert

I ended up making two batches of these "meatballs" this Memorial weekend. My DD had a pool party to go to and needed a snack to bring along. When we made them my two DSs wanted some too. And that is why we ended up with two batches.

It is a simple Rice Krispie Bar recipe: 3 Tbs butter melted in large pot. Add 10oz large marshmallows, stir until melted. Add 6 cups rice krispies stir until coated.

We used chocolate marshmallows instead of white ones. And when it cooled a little, we shaped them into balls instead of putting it into a pan. We sprayed our hands with Pam before making the balls. Even my 3 year old helped make them. He would make them so small, and say "it's to small, I better eat it!" I think he ate at least 10 of them before we were done.

Let them cool completely on wax paper before you put them into a air tight container. That way they won't stick together as much. Make sure to make alot, they disappear very quickly!

Craving for KFC

For those of you who know me, this might sound like a weird craving. As I do not eat any meat on a bone. I know I am weird, but this goes back to my childhood watching my parents gnaw on T-bone steak bones (It still grosses me out to this day). So the only thing that I do eat at KFC is their mashed potato bowls.

This afternoon I had a bad craving for one. But as I am not spending any money this week, I had to make due. I used a pouch of instant mashed potatoes, bag of frozen corn, package of chicken nuggets (would have been better with frozen popcorn chicken), package of brown gravy mix, and shredded cheese.

To my surprise it was actually pretty good! The chicken wasn't as crunchy, and the gravy wasn't the same, but that's why they have secret recipes. It made enough for two adult sized portions and two toddler sized portions. One portion for lunch today and one for DH's lunch tomorrow. The kids were separated and left out the gravy, but they liked them too. I still had left over corn and gravy for tonight's dinner too. This would be great for a smaller family for dinner. It ended up costing under $3.00 for all the ingredients I already had on hand. So for the price of one KFC Mashed Potato Bowl I made four bowls practically the same.