Simplify Your Life Series: The Tao of Laundry

If you're looking to simplify a little bit of your life or achieve a major overhaul then join me for our ten part series as we work along side Country Living's Simple Country Wisdom: 501 Old-Fashioned Ideas to Simplify Your Life by Susan Waggoner.  I touch base on a few points in each chapter, expound upon them and share some of my own tips.  Grab your favorite cuppa and join along!  (Start at the beginning HERE.)

BEHIND THE SCENES

The Tao of Laundry

Laundry can be quite the hassle in our home.  With three adults and eight children we make a lot of laundry.  We all work together.  I sort and run loads.  I hang dry the items that need to be hung to dry.  My mom helps me hang and fold.  The kids also help fold and put away laundry. It can be kind of fun working together. If you don't quite love laundry day, here are some tips that will lighten your work load.

The Way We Wash  Liquid dish soap works well (and often better) than pretreatment sprays.  A lot of times I'll try that and if it doesn't do the trick then I'll call in the big dog.  I like Spray-n-Wash's spray with Resolve in it.  Hydrogen Peroxide works wonders on blood stains!  Even on the carpet.  Speaking of carpets...I have little ones who are good at getting Silly Putty on carpets and clothes.  Alcohol will dry it up so that you can crumble it up and get it out. If you've washed a stained garment, examine it before you toss it in the dryer.  The heat will set the stain in.  If the stain is there treat it again and wash.  Separate clothes by fabric type (and by color) before you wash.  Heavyweight jeans and silk blouses don't wash well together.  Add a quarter cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle for a wonderfully natural and inexpensive fabric softener and to also reduce lint.  We've been doing that for years. (And you'll be happy to know that the clothes don't smell like vinegar after drying.)  Turn silk screened shirts inside out to reduce wear and tear on the designs.

In the Dryer  Straighten out wadded up clothes before tossing them in.  Give it a few snaps even to prevent as many wrinkles.  Just as you should wash like fabrics together, you should dry like fabrics together also.  Drying two loads back to back is more efficient than drying them at different times because the dryer only needs to heat up once.  Clothes will fade less if you dry them inside out. Throw in a large fluffy towel to absorb extra moisture and reduce drying time when drying heavy items such as blue jeans, rugs, and blankets. Reduce static cling by removing items from the dryer before they are bone dry.

The author, Susan Waggoner, also gives wonderful tips on drying outside and ironing!  But I'll close with a few of her twelve good reasons to line dry.

*  Clothes last longer.  Those gobs of lint you pull out of the dryer filter are actually bits of your clothes, fluffed and shredded from continuous rubbing together.

*  Say goodbye to shrinkage and set-for-life stains.

*  Sunlight has a gentle, natural bleaching effect.

See my post on how we dry laundry HERE.

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Join me in the coming weeks as we unwrap the present that is our lives.  The next step in our series is enjoying our time in the kitchen.  Please share this series by placing the button in the side bar of your blog or share on Facebook by clicking the button at the very bottom of this post.

* photos courtesy of Country Living

This post is part of the Homestead Barn Hop.

Jill @ The Prairie Homestead

Kendra @ New Life on a Homestead

Kelly @ The Morris Tribe

and Amy @ Homestead Revival

Homesteading Goals

I listed some goals over at The Prairie Homestead's Facebook page and it inspired me to share it with you all.  I wrote HERE how we try to do a lot of things around our homestead for ourselves.  Self-sufficiency is the key for us.  In the three years we have lived in our home we have learned and begun many projects.  We have a large garden, several blueberry bushes, a cherry tree, make our own laundry soap and dishwasher soap, raise chickens for eggs and for meat, raise dairy goats, make yogurt, ice cream, and do a lot of canning and cook from scratch.  I am so thankful for all that we do for our family, but there's always room for improvement.

This year I want to...

1. Master the art of bread making.  (I've been pouring over Homestead Blessings: The Art of Bread Making dvd.)


2.  Help my girls sew some skirts again with the help of Homestead Blessings: Art Of Sewing dvd.

3.  Start our garden from seed (did it a few years ago and ended up making money selling starters!) Yep, you guessed it...the West ladies have a dvd for that, too. Homestead Blessings: The Art of Gardening


4.  Start an herb garden.  Again the West ladies have a wonderful dvd all about growing and identifying herbs and what to do with them. Homestead Blessings: The Art of Herbs
 
5. Make cold frames.  Cold frames are covered in the gardening dvd.


Do you have any homesteading goals for the year?  You don't have to live on 3 acres to have a "homestead", though, you know.  You can live in town and have the homestead mentality.  Being self-sufficient, doing for yourself and not depending on store bought what-nots.  Give it a try!  Share what you'd like to do!

Cranberry Nut Muffins

This is another variation on the Basic Muffin Mix I posted last week.  Go to the Basic Muffin Mix post for that recipe. 

Cranberry Nut Muffins
1 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 chopped walnuts (pecans or almonds would be good, too!)
3 T. sugar

Gently fold into the batter before spooning into the muffin pan.

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix the topping ingredients together and spoon over the muffins before baking.  Slightly press the topping into the tops of the muffins (helps the sugars to not fall off).

Enjoy!

Simplify Your Life Series: The Elements of Clean

If you're looking to simplify a little bit of your life or achieve a major overhaul then join me for our ten part series as we work along side Country Living's Simple Country Wisdom: 501 Old-Fashioned Ideas to Simplify Your Life by Susan Waggoner.  I touch base on a few points in each chapter, expound upon them and share some of my own tips.  Grab your favorite cuppa and join along!  (Start at the beginning HERE.)

Behind the Scenes

The Elements of Clean

"The best, most efficient way to have a clean home", Susan Waggoner states, "is to keep dirt and mess to a minimum in the first place."  I wholeheartedly agree!  Here I'll share a few of her tips as well as my own.

Preventative Cleaning      Vacuum or shake entryway rugs and mats when you vacuum the rest of the house...if not more often.  (One inside the door and one outside the door is extra protection from the dirt!)  Keep shoes by the door not on your feet traipsing dirt all over the house wearing out the carpet and flooring.  Wipe your pooches paws when he comes in from nasty weather or a muddy yard. Clean carpets with a steam cleaner once or twice a year. 

How to Clean     Many people grow up not knowing how to clean. In our large family, everyone will leave as a grown up with full knowledge on the subject!  I have a lot of excellent helpers! Take a peek at some of their chores HERE.  There are three levels of clean. Level One: Tasks that need to be tended to every day or a few times a week.  Level Two: Tasks that need to be accomplished weekly or monthly. Level Three: Tasks that are done once or twice a year.  For levels One and Two visit my post HERE on organization and motivation for cleaning. I have a printable that I use to keep me on target of those day to day and week to week tasks.  I think of Level Three cleaning as Spring Cleaning.  I share my cleaning list with you HERE. Having a plan and sticking to it is worth it's weight in gold! Turn on the music to help boost your energy and make you more productive! (We love the "Sweet Caroline" station on Pandora.)  Complete a task during a television commercial!  Sometimes they can be super long and you can get a lot done!

Bathroom Trouble Spots   Keeping the bathroom clean at our house can be near impossible. If we stay on it, though, it can be done.  Prevent mildew in the bathroom with good ventilation.  Keep the shower curtain drawn to prevent mold from forming in the creases.  Rub ceramic tiles with car wax, let stand for ten minutes, then buff them as you would your car..they'll be nice and shiny! A toothbrush, an old rag, baking soda, and vinegar are the best defenses in the loo.  I have a homemade cleaner recipe HERE .

The Way with Windows    Washing windows can be tricky.  If your windows always seem dirty you may need to check the filters in the heating and air conditioning units.  You could be blowing dust back into your air.  Choose a cloudy day to clean the windows to prevent streaks. A squeegee is my best friend when it comes to washing windows. They come in all sizes and when using a squeegee you won't need paper towel!   For a quick and easy homemade window spray mix one-third cup water, one-third cup rubbing alcohol and one teaspoon white vinegar.  Use vertical strokes on one side and horizontal strokes on the other so you'll know which side of the window the streak is on.  If you have frost that forms on the inside of windows in cold weather you could either have too much humidity in the air or not enough insulation.  Try polishing the inside of the window pain with isopropyl alcohol.

Curtains and Trim      The fastest and most effective way to dust blinds is to put on a pair of cotton gloves, dust them with spray and glide your fingers over the slats.  Adjust shades and blinds to cut energy costs.  They can not only deflect heat from the sun, but they can provide an extra barrier against the cold.  Use light, bright fabrics for curtains in the warm weather to encourage air flow.  In cold weather, heavy drapes absorb the cold air around the windows.  If you can't afford two different sets make curtain liners of heavy fabric and thread them on an expansion rod to pop in the window in the winter.

Need more tips on cleaning?  Want more secrets to make a bathroom sparkle?  Want to know how to be the most efficient when tackling an entire room?  Hop on over to my Amazon store and order HERE.

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Join me in the coming weeks as we unwrap the present that is our lives.  The next step in our series is cleaning our homes.  Please share this series by placing the button in the side bar of your blog or share on Facebook by clicking the button at the very bottom of this post.

* photos courtesy of Country Living

This post is part of the Homestead Barn Hop.

Jill @ The Prairie Homestead

Kendra @ New Life on a Homestead

Kelly @ The Morris Tribe

and Amy @ Homestead Revival

Dutch Apple Cake

Our family doesn't have cable.  We enjoy instant streaming on Netflix, instead.  One of the shows we like to watch is "Cake Boss".  A recent episode we watched showed Buddy (the "Cake Boss") showing someone how to make a Dutch Apple Cake.  It looked so yummy!  I had a box of cake mix on hand that a friend had given me and a can of apple pie filling left over from our summer camping trip (think campfire pies) so I knew I could come up with something.  I ran to the computer to find a recipe that I could tweak.  The results were an entire cake gone in one meal (which, honestly, isn't hard with our big family), and several requests to make it again.  My plan is to can apple pie filling this fall and also figure out a bulk basic cake mix recipe like my muffin mix recipe.  When I do I will be sure to share it with you!  Until then, enjoy!

Dutch Apple Cake
1 pkg. (18 1/2 oz.) yellow cake mix
1/2 c. butter, melted
2 eggs
1 can (21 oz.) apple pie filling

Topping:
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. butter, softened

Preheat oven 350 degrees.  In large bowl, combine dry cake mix, melted butter and eggs; blend well.  Spread on the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan. (It will not look like cake batter...it will be a lot thicker...that's o.k.!)  Spoon pie filling evenly over batter.  In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon, cut in butter.  Sprinkle over pie filling.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.  This cake is especially yummy topped with a scoop (or three) of ice cream!  Enjoy!


photo courtesy country living

Basic Muffin Mix and Chunky Apple Muffins

A friend shared a recipe with me and over the course of the last few weeks I've been tweaking it and having the family taste test my creations.  I make a quadruple batch of the mix and store in an air tight container (will keep for up to three months).  For sake of organization in the tabs above this will be posted under the "Bread" and "Breakfast" tabs.  I'll add new variations as I test them and tweak.  Enjoy!

Basic Muffin Mix
8 cups all purpose unbleached flour (you can use half wheat if you like)
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 T. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg

Basic Muffins
2 3/4 c. muffin mix
1 c. milk
1/3 c. honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2  c. oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray muffin pans with cooking spray.  Put muffin mix in medium bowl.  Combine egg, milk, honey, and oil in a small bowl.  Add wet ingredients all at once to muffin mix.  Stir until just moist.  Batter should be lumpy.  Spoon into muffin pans.  Bake approx. 15 - 17 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.

Chunky Apple Muffins
Add the following to the wet ingredients:
1/2 c. applesauce
1 1/2 c. chopped apples (I used two small/medium apples)
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 T. sugar

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix the topping ingredients together and spoon over the muffins before baking.  Slightly press the topping into the tops of the muffins (helps the sugars to not fall off).

Enjoy!

Simplify Your Life Series: What Meets the Eye

If you're looking to simplify a little bit of your life or achieve a major overhaul then join me for our ten part series as we work along side Country Living's Simple Country Wisdom: 501 Old-Fashioned Ideas to Simplify Your Life by Susan Waggoner.  I touch base on a few points in each chapter, expound upon them and share some of my own tips.  Grab your favorite cuppa and join along!  (Start at the beginning HERE.)

The Home That Welcomes

What Meets the Eye

The easiest, quickest, and least expensive way to perk up our home's decor is with paint!  The hardest part is choosing your colors!  I am the worst at picking paint colors.  I see something in a magazine and think it would look good in my home then I second guess my decision over and over.  A good trick is to buy a small can of the colors you are debating, paint them on a large piece of cardboard (after priming) then hold it up around different areas of your room.  

The author suggests (and we do this, too) to buy metal paint trays.  They are durable and you can purchase inexpensive plastic liners that are disposable so clean up is a cinch!  

 
With that cardboard piece you painted write the manufacturer, paint number, and name of the shade on it.  Take the swatch with you when you go shopping for accessories to be sure they will coordinate.  

If you have left over paint store it in a baby food or small mayonnaise jar for touch ups and ditch the rest.  After all, if you need more than that to touch up you will have to buy a new can anyway.  Just be sure to label the jar with manufacturing information and as to which room the paint belongs.  Use a cotton swab to touch up a scratch or blemish on the wall.  

Decorating. It's my favorite part to a room makeover!  I wholeheartedly agree with the author when she says that "it's best to stick with a style you love, whether it's English cottage, mid-century modern, or farmhouse style, leave the trend setting to others.  Your personal style will always be classic for you, and the only reason you'll end up with green shag is because you love it."

Keep a folder or notebook of ideas you like.  I do this for home decor as well as items I might like to craft some day.  If you see a room you really love, copy it!  I am such a copy cat decorator and crafter!  If I see something I like I figure out how I can do it, and it's often a fraction of the cost!  In your notebook of ideas keep copies of receipts of major furniture purchases, care labels, paint swatches, etc. Anything you need to remember about how and what you decorated with.

Make things you love part of your decor.  What fun is it to collect vintage quilts and toys if you're just going to squirrel them away and not enjoy them?  

If you haven't found the major piece of art work to put above the sofa then do what I do and make a grouping of smaller, thematically related pictures and items.  Above our sofa I have two 10x13 pictures, three 5x7 pictures (all in black frames) along with some black wrought iron word art.  Simple!  

Dress your rooms for the seasons! Spring and summer call for lighter curtains, brighter pillows, slipcovers and throws.  Fall and winter call for thicker curtains, warm cuddly pillows, and heavy quilts.  Don't forget to pack away any decor that's out of season so your home isn't cluttered.

Try growing a few potted plants inside.  Arrange them in baskets and containers deep enough to conceal the pots. I have to confess that even though I can grow all sorts of things outside I have an indoor brown thumb.  All I can seem to manage is keeping a vase of flowers alive.  Let me know how you do with that! *smile*

  
Don't forget the senses!  Burn high-quality scented candles to sweeten the smell of your home.  If you don't like to burn candles you can melt potpourri tarts in a burner (my Hubby makes one that I sell HERE). Make your own potpourri by adding citrus rinds, apple peels, and cinnamon sticks!  Or soak cotton balls in concentrated extracts such as vanilla, lemon, or orange (Be sure to keep them out of reach of pets and children!).

Want to learn more about how to paint, how to stage a room (something not just for resale value), or getting a guest room ready?  Hop on over to my Amazon store and purchase HERE.

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Join me in the coming weeks as we unwrap the present that is our lives.  The next step in our series is cleaning our homes.  Please share this series by placing the button in the side bar of your blog or share on Facebook by clicking the button at the very bottom of this post.

* photos courtesy of Country Living

This post is part of the Homestead Barn Hop.

Jill @ The Prairie Homestead

Kendra @ New Life on a Homestead

Kelly @ The Morris Tribe

and Amy @ Homestead Revival

Falling Tomato Juice

Yep.  Falling tomato juice.  When we froze our tomato juice from last summer's bounty we put it in freezer bags.  We also canned some, but we're using the ones in the freezer first.  We lay them flat in freezer when we first freeze then we can stand them up like books to better use our space.  Well the other day one fell out and just about took off a toe.  (Well, sorta.) We have a fridge/freezer combo upstairs and in the basement and also two upright freezers in the basement.  They can get pretty full when fall rolls around. After a summer of freezing blueberries, strawberries, cherries and zucchini we then move on to tomato sauce (and a lot of it...we love Chili!), green beans, etc. We also buy half and whole horns of cheese and shred so we have baggies of those in the freezer as well.  All of those baggies can get a bit overwhelming.  So I've been reading a few books and hunting around the internet and found this pic.

Isn't that lovely?!  Not only am I going to buy some baskets to organize my frozen fruits, veggies, sauce, etc.  I think I'm going to buy some of those plastic freezer containers for my sauce this year.  Woo hoo!  I'm excited for freezer organization!  (Come on...you have to be a little bit motivated, too, right? ... Right?) 

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Do you have any freezer organization ideas you'd love to share?  Please do!!

Spinach Dip

Every year my mother-in-law's side of the family gathers together to celebrate Christmas.  It's a fun time of sharing stories about the year's events, ooh and aah at new babies, talk football, play some pool and, of course, eat some delicious food!  I always take either Grandma Frays' Mac-n-Cheese or Crock Pot Mac-n-Cheese.  My husband's cousin Jen and her hubby Scott always bring their yummy spinach dip!  It's sooo good! Jen was kind enough to share the recipe with us!

Spinach Dip

2 bars cream cheese, softened
11 to 13 oz of drained spinach
1 can artichoke hearts (Jen thinks 11 oz. or so.)
3/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan/Romano blend cheese  (Kraft in a can!)
1/2 tsp. minced garlic or 1/8 tsp. garlic powder

Mix all ingredients and cook in a crock pot on low for 2 to 3 hours.


photo credit Taste of Home

Simplify Your Life Series: Clutter Control

If you're looking to simplify a little bit of your life or achieve a major overhaul then join me for our ten part series as we work along side Country Living's Simple Country Wisdom: 501 Old-Fashioned Ideas to Simplify Your Life by Susan Waggoner.  I touch base on a few points in each chapter and expound upon them and share some of my own tips.  Grab your favorite cuppa and join along!  (Start at the beginning HERE.)

The Home That Welcomes

Clutter Control

The marketing industry wants us to believe that we need more things.  I agree that a buy one get one free sale is tempting but all those things can add up to one big cluttered mess!  That clutter can hinder us in many ways.  Clutter can get in our way not just physically but socially as well.  For me personally I get cranky when the house starts to clutter up.  When it's cluttered I don't want to entertain guests.  Who wants to see someone else's mess?

Nip the clutter in the bud!  Before it even finds a place to live and start to multiply!  (It seems to do that, doesn't it?!)  Since we are a big family we are often given hand-me-down clothes.  If I kept all of the clothes that everyone ever gave me I wouldn't be able to walk through my house!  Don't get me wrong. I'm thankful for their generosity, but we really don't need to keep everything.  What I do to cut the clutter is set the bags on the bench by the door until I can get to them some time that day.  When I sort through them I take out what I want to keep (put it in the laundry so it gets washed and put away soon) then the bag of items we don't need is sent to the van to drop off at the Goodwill on our next trip to town.

Same goes for books.  We're given books a lot.  School books, theological books, cook books, magazines, etc.  I flip through the books/magazines and if there's enough to peak my interest they go to a proper home in the house.  If they're not interesting enough...to the Goodwill bag they go. Besides, with the modern convenience of the internet we have so much information at our fingertips!

Our children are perpetual packrats.  I think they get that from my dad.  He kept my old swingset and stored it in the attic of their garage not getting rid of it until they sold their house to move about 9 years ago.  Yes, my dad kept my swingset almost two decades after I was done using it!  In order to keep that gene in check with our children we make it a point to deep clean their rooms regularly.  The week before Christmas we had them sort through their belongings.  We made a deal with them that for every grocery store bag they filled with toys or stuffed animals we would give them one dollar.  We were paying them to get rid of stuff!  They were ecstatic!  We were $23 in the hole, but we were free from 23 bags of stuff they no longer played!  With their money one child put it towards her savings for a camera.  Another bought a new Webkinz.  Our oldest is into building with motors, batteries and techie things like that so he bought some parts and pieces with his money.  In our eyes it was a win-win situation!

It's nice to deep clean on occasion (like spring cleaning), but to keep the house in tiptop shape on a regular basis we have regular chores.  I have my regular chores and the kids have theirs. (And of course my poor hubby has his never ending honey-do list.) We've added to their lists that each kiddo has a room they need to tidy up before dinner.  It's supposed to be every night and it works best if it happens this way, but some days are very busy before dinner so it waits until after dinner or before bed.

Another thing that has helped me in my clutter maintenance was to toss the guilt!  You don't have to save everything!  I have a hard time letting go of something that was a gift that just isn't my size, style, or fits my needs.  Instead of it cluttering up my home and doing no one any good sitting on a shelf or hanging in a closet I have decided that it's o.k. to give it to Goodwill or to a friend.  Lest you think I'm cold and heartless let me just say you should see my cedar chest, the top of my closet, and a few totes in the basement.  Moving right along...a-hem.

Speaking of closets...we all keep things that don't fit us hoping that they will some day.  Right?  For me I've started just in the last few months getting rid of skirts and dresses that I haven't worn since before baby number three over ten years ago!  Fashions have changed and I need to, too.  I made a big trip to Goodwill that week and I suddenly have extra hangers!

Something that's on my list of things to do at the end of winter is account for all the winter gear.  Round up all the coats, scarves, mittens, and hats and decide which should be given away, thrown away, and kept.  (I think I have a few mittens out in the mudroom that are destined to an orphan's life!)  Wash and dry them. Pack them away in totes with cedar wood blocks to keep them fresh.  If the cedar scent has vanished do what the author does -- give them a light sanding with sandpaper and the scent will come back full strength.

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What tips helped you best?  What might you do this week to control your clutter?

Join me in the coming weeks as we unwrap the present that is our lives.  The next step in our series is making our home pleasing to our senses.  Please share this series by placing the button in the side bar of your blog or share on Facebook by clicking the "Like" button under this post.

* photos courtesy of Country Living

This post is part of the Homestead Barn Hop.

Jill @ The Prairie Homestead

Kendra @ New Life on a Homestead

Megan @ A Blossoming Homestead

and Amy @ Homestead Revival

I Love My Hubby!

Even though he's been up to his eyeballs in papers and exams to grade since before Christmas break began he found the time to install a new faucet and vanity top in the main bathroom this weekend!

Before:

An old sink basin that is cracked and chipping in every place imaginable.  Plus the cold faucet handle falls off any time you touch it.  When we have company we always have to holler "Don't worry, you didn't break it!" when we hear it clunk into the sink and our guest say "Uh oh!".

 After:

Isn't it beaoootimus?!  We won a little shopping spree at our local hardware store so we got the Moen faucet for free!!  The vanity top was bought with combined gifts of Christmas money and an extra side carpentry and handyman job hubby did over break.

 I love it!  And I love him for installing it so soon!