One Step Closer

We're one step closer to having a pantry full of homemade canned items that we grew ourselves. We finally got Bryan's father's tiller up and running and Bryan tilled up twice the garden we typically have. We're ready to work this year. We're really going to try to keep that attitude, even in July when there's weeding to be done early in the morning. And watering. And more weeding. ;) Wish us luck!

Homemade Toilet Bowl Cleaner

I found this recipe online and I love it. To clean your toilet bowl, pour in 1/4 cup of baking soda and then drizzle vinegar on top. Let it sit for 30 minutes and then clean with a toilet brush.

For stains in the bowl, add about 3 or 4 Tbsp. of Borax just before you use the toilet brush. My upstairs toilet gets stains because it's the "kid's bathroom" and they tend not to flush as often as they should. I felt like the stains came right off into the water when I added the Borax.

The other reason I love this recipe (yes, it's environmentally friendly but that's not it) is because my kids feel like they're doing some sort of fun science experiment watching the water bubble and foam when they add the vinegar and then again when they add the Borax. They think it's awesome and it helps make cleaning fun!

Let me know if you try it and like it.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

I read a recipe recently for homemade dishwasher detergent. You mix equal parts Borax and Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. You add 2 Tbsp of this mixture to your dishwasher.

Vinegar can be put in the rinse-aid compartment instead of a store bought rinse-aid like Jet Dry.

I read another recipe that said you could use equal parts Borax, Washing Soda and water to make a liquid detergent for your dishwasher.

The verdict: I made the powdered option this week when we ran out of dishwasher detergent and I didn't want to go to the store to buy more. I also put the vinegar in as a rinse-aid. I felt the vinegar worked well but the detergent was just so-so. My dishes really weren't as clean as usual.

The good thing, however, is that if I ever run out again and don't want to go to the store to buy more, or it's the end of the monthly budget and I don't want to spend on more - I have another option. I do have the ingredients on hand to make this (they are the same ingredients that went into the homemade laundry soap). I should also mention that my dishwasher is really, really old. I have a friend who tried the homemade liquid variety in her 4 month old dishwasher and loved it. So, that could be what I'm lacking. You can also add a drop of lemon or orange essential oil to add a fresh scent.

I'm curious to hear if anyone else tries this and likes it.

Prepping the Garden

It's time to prep the garden. We were talking about fertilizer this year and I didn't want to use a store-bought, man-made fertilizer. I wanted something natural. You know what that means... manure. We don't have any livestock but we do know someone who lives nearby that owns a lot of alpacas. I asked her and she not only invited us to come help ourselves to her compost pile, she even showed Bryan how to use the loader on her tractor to load his truck with it! Isn't that nice? Alpaca manure is wonderful for the garden because it's already in dry pellets so it's not as messy as some manure. Plus, it works better than Miracle-Gro. Once it has been composted, the heat in the compost pile helps kill grass seed or other weed seeds that may be in it.

You may be asking yourself, "Is she saying she's excited about free poop?" Yes. That is exactly what I'm saying.

Post Script

There was something I forgot to mention in my last post. I realized something unexpected once we started the bartering process - both parties involved seem to think they have the better end of the bargain. How fun is that? I'm elated to have the fresh eggs and she and her family are thrilled with the bread. I don't know why but for some reason I had the word "barter" synonymous with "compromise," thinking that both parties would be giving up something. But that's not how it is at all. Quite the opposite, it's great for everyone, no sacrificing involved. She had extra eggs, I can make bread, we both get exactly what we want. It's simple and wonderful.

Our First Barter

I'm so excited, we've reached one of our goals! I found out about a childhood friend who has fresh eggs. She was happy to barter for my homemade bread. I brought home 2 1/2 dozen eggs for two loaves of my homemade whole wheat bread - we quickly ate scrambled eggs after bringing them home, so some are missing for the picture. I grind the wheat myself so the bread was just as fresh.

I look forward to getting some more photos of her chickens this spring when they get to be outside all day. She has a great variety - everything from Plymouth Rocks to Bantams to Guineas.

She also has goats and milks them twice a day. They do not buy milk or butter - they use the goat's milk. She said she's even made ice cream with it and is going to try to make cheese.

The eggs are delicious. The yolks are a deep golden color which means they have tons of vitamins in them. The shells are nice and thick. It's so obvious how much healthier they are than store-bought eggs. Plus, I'm no longer paying for eggs! Soon, I will blog about how to make your own bread.

We've successfully cut our three most frequent store-bought items from the budget. Milk, bread and eggs. The milk budget has been cut in half now that I'm supplementing with our non-fat dry milk from food storage, I'm making 100% of our bread from food storage items and no longer buying it, and we're bartering for fresh eggs and no longer buying them. These three items were what we would most frequently "run to the store" for and end up picking up other items while we were there. So excited!

Mary said something that really resonated with me when I was picking up the eggs. She said, "Once you get used to doing things yourself, it's actually easier." I think she's right. It really is easier for me to make a couple of loaves of bread while I'm cooking dinner or homeschooling than it is for me to run to the store and get more. It's also SO much healthier. Can't wait to share more...

Milk

This gallon of milk cost me $3.58. It goes fast in my house.We usually all have a glass at dinner plus some on the oatmeal in the morning. The baby is too little to have it - but still, the other five of us drink it. I'd say we go through 3 gallons a week, sometimes more if I'm doing a lot of baking. Want to know how to stretch it?

In an effort to decrease our food expenses I'm trying to be more disciplined about using my food storage. I used to do this but had gotten away from it. We have non-fat dry milk. It's not quite the same as instant milk. This tastes better but you have to blend it a little more. (If I remember correctly, instant milk looks like little dry pearls and melts instantly in water. It also has a very distinct odor). The non-fat dry milk especially tastes good if you mix it with your regular milk!

So, here's what I do. When my store-bought milk is down to half a gallon, I mix up some of my non-fat dry milk. The dry milk I have mixes 3/4 cup of dry milk with 4 cups of warm water. I mix mine in the blender but I'm sure you could mix it by hand or give it a good shake if you had a pitcher with a tight fitting lid. Then I place my mixed milk in the fridge until it's good and cold and I pour it into the store-bought milk, refilling it up to a full gallon.

Important things to remember:

*Check the expiration date on your half gallon of store-bought milk before adding in dry milk. If you still have enough time to finish all of it before it expires, you're good. If it expires in a day or two, you may want to wait until next time to try this.

*Only refill a jug ONE time. I only refill my jug once, then we use it until it's empty and move on to a new jug of milk. If you keep refilling the same jug you are going to keep mixing new milk and old milk and could end up making yourself sick.

*I add a little vanilla to the blender when I'm making my non-fat dry milk. It helps out the flavor a little. Maybe 1/2 tsp - 1 tsp? Tonight at dinner I served a jug of half store-bought and half non-fat dry milk and everyone had seconds. I could taste a little of the vanilla and the milk tasted slightly different than usual but it was good. Not gross at all.

*When you get your mixed milk out of the fridge, sometimes there will be foam on the top. I just scoop this off with a large spoon and put it down the drain before I pour it into the jug.

Let me know if you try it. This saves us quite a bit of money. And, it's good for us to be circulating our food storage and keeping it fresh. My non-fat dry milk was purchased at a food storage cannery for our church. If you have a Mormon friend and you want to give this a try - ask them, they may be able to hook you up with a sample. :) But, I'm sure you can buy this type of dry milk in the store, just probably not quite as cheap as I get it at the cannery. I promise, sometime I'll blog about food storage.