I can not believe my oldest is ready for Algebra. This is Saxon Algebra 1/2. The class before highschool Algebra 1. We love Saxon for Emma. Here is a link to a post I did that goes a little more in depth on Saxon Math and why we like it.

And here is Singapore Math. I like this for the earlier grades like 1st to 3rd. Meg and Henry are using these books. Here is a link for more on Singapore.

Now this is a bit scary. It is a writing program called Excellence in Writing. It is the writing program I have heard talked about for many years and the one the older mentor moms seem to always refer. It appears overwhelming when you read about it, but all these older or more experienced moms say it is absolutely worth it. So I dove in and bought the first piece of it.

I haven’t really looked at it much. My plan is to get Emma going on it this fall, but it is entirely possible that I will toss it aside if it does not work for us.  I am hoping that doesn’t happen, but I have done this enough to know that forcing something that isn’t flowing, will be miserable for all involved.  Maybe it needs to wait a year or two or maybe it won’t work at all.  Ok.   I am now going to be positive :)

Oh, and it has DVD’s you watch, a binder and all kinds of other stuff.

I’m really excited about this. A Thomas Jefferson Education. I’d seen this website and loved it and then saw these books also at the Excellence in Writing booth. These are right up my alley!

And these next books, The Kingdom Series by Chuck Black, are wonderful for upper elementary and probably into middle school. Here are a few reviews I found :

“Chuck Black is a word crafter who is able to weave Kingdom principles into the fabric of one’s moral imagination. The characters he has created and the passions they exude, will motivate readers to follow their examples, which have now been etched into their awakened conscience.”

– Mark Hamby, Founder and President of Cornerstone Family Ministries and Lamplighter Publishing

“A Pilgrim’s Progress for the Xbox generation! That’s what Chuck Black has achieved in his Kingdom Series. It’s an allegory of the whole Bible told in the medieval format of noble knights and scathing sword fights, quests and dragons, betrayal, and final victory by the true Prince over the Dark Knight.”

-Dave Jackson, author of the Trailblazer novels

Written by a homeschool dad of 6 children and former F-16 fighter pilot.  We met him at the conference with his children.  He was hip and cool for sure!

They also come in CD’s with great music and sound effects. There are several more series’. We started with this one. These are highly recommended by us and all of our friends.

I found these little diddies for a dollar, brought them home and had them laminated at Staples for Meg and Henry. I thought they were a great reference tool. I got them at Rainbow Resource.com.  Another favorite booth!

And I had to have this. This is Michael Pearl’s Bible in comic book form, NOW in color.

This is a GREAT way for children to get into the Bible, but their main purpose was to create the Bible in a form that could be brought into foreign countries that do not allow Bibles. There are many countries in this category and now these “Bibles” are being brought in and many people are learning what they would never otherwise have learned. No Greater Joy is the website and these people have been a favorite of mine for many years.

And here is a novel written by Debi Pearl, Michael’s wife. She wrote the Helpmeet book that I so often talk about. That so helped get me where I am now as a wife. I figured I had to buy her novel. It is still on my “to read” stack though. Some day :)

Here are Emma’s treats to herself.  She LOVES to make things.

And this is what Meg bought.  Oh my.  Ink.  This has a similar effect on me as the children’s paint in the cupboard that was stealing my peace.  (I eventually threw it out and decided that is why we go to Leonardo’s.  Our local Art and Science museum.)  I’m much happier now.  But it is sweet that she wanted these and I’m working on my patience with these old fashioned tools she chose.

And finally, here are the 2 coonskin hats that we brought the boys, from one of my other favorite booths, Vision Forum. They are all about men being men and women being women. Well, we got them home, opened them up to give to the boys and they were in pieces that have to be sewn together. Oh boy. Guess I should have looked at the tag closer.

Ahhhh. It says Coon Tail Hat KIT. KIT. The key word. Ok. Sounds like a project for Emma while we read books together in the winter. We will save that.

And that’s it for this year.

It’s been a busy spring and summer, with lots going on. Hoping to have a moment to write about it. God Bless You!

Love,
Allison

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To Give Money Or Not To Give Money

It took me a number of years to decide whether we should give our children a regular allowance or not. Should we just expect their daily help and then maybe give them money for extra jobs? Would a regular allowance, whether they were obedient or not in doing chores, make them think they would get money, i.e. a reward, regardless of how they performed?

The Types of Jobs

Finally, after getting rid of our housekeeper and training our older ones in sweeping, vaccuuming, picking up, cleaning bathrooms, doing laundry, childcare, changing diapers, cooking meals, etc., (you can read about that in Our 5 Step Process For Chores,) we decided they definitely deserve a regular allowance. And we are thrilled that they are becoming so capable at such young ages. This bodes well for adulthood. Of course, there is always some new area of training needed, but we feel we are on the right track.

Not sure what I said to get her to pose like this, but it sure is cute!

The Time To Train

One good thing about homeschooling is that it allows us time for these things. If they were in school all day, I am not sure how this would work, though I do know “where there is a will, there is a way!” We see this “work” as absolutely essential training for adulthood. In fact, at this age, it is more important than math facts, history and Four Square. (Though they are learning those too:)

The Age To Train

If laziness is allowed early on (5, 8, 10 years old) it will infect a child making him or her think, even more, that the world revolves around their desires. Imagine that child at 16 or 25 or older. Not a pleasant thought. We have certainly slacked off many times in the “laziness” arena. With ourselves AND our children. But one of our biggest desires is to succeed in that area.

You KNOW I love to call deboning a chicken “Science Class.”

The more children we have, the more I realize how important it is to sow the mentality into them of “helping the family.” Even a 2-year-old can line up the shoes, or take things to the trash, or pull out the clothes from the dryer.

Luke LOVES to vacuum.  These are the paint chips from Dad scraping the outside of the house.

My husband continually has Henry, 7, repeating the question “Hey Dad, how can I help the family?”

Now I’m no professional photog, but I think that sunlit glint on the top of his hair with a blurred background is what we are going for.  Works for me.

Training To Save And Training To Spend

In addition to “work” training, there is a huge need to train our children in “how to manage money.” Oh my. I am astounded at how long it took my husband and me to really grasp what we needed to do in the financial part of our lives. See this post on How We Handle Our Finances As a Couple.

Here Is The Key (I do love to kill 2 birds with 1 stone)

We decided that not only would this regular allowance be the children’s portion for all of the work they do at home, it would also be their training ground in how to save, invest, tithe, give generously and spend their hard-earned money.

SO HERE IS OUR PLAN

If you like this plan, but it isn’t in your budget, maybe lessen the amounts and also lessen the categories to just a few essentials like tithe, spend, and save.

Our children are 12, 9, 7, and 3. You get to join the plan when you turn 6. But even the 3 year old is doing jobs. (The 9 and 7 year olds were 8 and 6 when these photos were taken.)

Each child gets a binder.

The binder has 6 6×9 manilla envelopes in it that are 3-hole punched.

The 6 envelopes are for 6 categories.

Each month, each child receives their age x $4 (4 represents $1 per week) that is then divided into the envelopes.

So, since Emma is 12, she receives 12 x 4 = $48/month.  Meg receives 8 x 4 = $32/month.  Henry receives 6 x 4 = $24/month.

Yes, for these 3 children that totals $104 a month and there have been times when I wanted to cut that expense out of our budget, BUT it truly IS a big priority. So….it stays in the budget.

And before you think that is a lot of money to give these children, here is how it is divided into their envelopes.

#1 Tithe 10%

#2 Free Spending 10%

#3 Generous Giving 10%

#4 Living Expenses 10%

#5 Short Term Savings 20%

#6 Long Term Savings 40%

I have adjusted these percentages over the years and as my husband and I got into the Dave Ramsey plan, increased their savings percentages. You can adjust these to whatever works for you. And you can change them over time. I found this plan from a mom on the internet years ago. I have no idea who it was, but thank you! I remember she said that her 12 year old son asked to increase his long term savings to 50% at one point. Sure, that’s fine. But increasing free spending is not going to happen :)

Category Descriptions:

Tithe

The Bible clearly says give 10% of your income back to God if you want to be blessed. When we started tithing about 9 years ago, there was a marked change in our income level. Yes, believe it. The moment income comes into our house or bank account, the very first thing that happens is 10% is taken off the top and put into a tithe account. Then we don’t accidentally spend it. We tithe on the gross, instead of the net, so that our taxes are blessed too :)

Generous Giving

This is for gifts whether birthday gifts for friends or family, christmas gifts, etc.

Living Expenses

I see this possibly changing over the years depending on the child. Right now, of course, we provide all of their clothes and their day-to-day living expenses. I let them take this money to the Homeschool Conference in May to spend on educational items that they would like. The conference is a feast for the eyes and it is very easy to overspend, (trust me, I’ve done it.)   I have my budget for our homeschool needs. If they want extra, they use money from this category. As they get older, this will probably change.

Short Term Saving

I not really sure what this will be for yet. Possibly a car. (Ugh, I don’t want to think about that.)

Long Term Savings

This is for the real long term. When they save up enough we will help them invest it. It may turn out to be their retirement nest egg or maybe they will use it to buy a house when they get married. It will be exciting to see how this money grows for them starting at such a young age.

Free Spending

My husband is really good at taking them to a store like Walgreens or Ross or Dollar Tree and examining with them the item they want and then discussing whether or not it is a good value. I was with Henry, 7, the other day and he was going to buy something and said “Do you think this is a good value Mom?” So cute.

Emma, 12, is extremely frugal.  Meg, 9, is still working on that skill.  She can sometimes have that money burning a hole in her pocket so this is what I finally figured out with her.  When we are standing in a store looking at a toy she wants to buy we might discuss it for a few minutes, then I suggest she or we pray about it and see what she thinks God is telling her. 9 times out of 10 she says God is telling her to save her money. Wow! Pretty awesome that these babies can crucify the flesh in a Godly moment like that.

So, in actuality, these children only get a few dollars a month to spend.

Extra

They CAN make extra money by doing extra jobs and their grandmothers tend to give them gift cards at various holidays so they always have a few dollars available and if not, they are motivated to earn some.

For instance, the other day Meg earned $10 by scrubbing the black gunk off the stovetop. It was a huge job. Caked and burned on all over the backsplash, the griddle, etc. I had been staring at it for a year (I’m embarrassed to say) and finally had the bright idea to pay someone!

Think Big

We are also just starting to encourage them to think in entrepreneurial ways probably leading toward starting a small business.

Other Rewards

In addition to their regular allowance, we try to regularly reward them with treats when we are all working hard as a team on a project that is not for extra cash. Maybe after a long afternoon of yard work we will head over to Sonic for a slush. They LOVE that! Or maybe an M&M for going to the potty or for practicing the “Come here” game (the most basic and important thing a parent can teach a child.) You know, “Luke, come here.” If he doesn’t obey that command, life is a whole lot harder for mom and dad. Or maybe baking and decorating cookies.

Rewards are very important!

This is our plan. It is really working well for us so far. Do you have a plan? I’m always up for new and better ideas.

God Bless You and Your Sweet Babies!

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This is my favorite picture of Matt in Russia.  Perplexed by the menu.

Tuesday night, August 28th, 2007

Andrei came by at 6pm tonight.  He gave us Ilya’s new Russian passport with his new name on it in Russian.  Ilya Neyl Devis. I guess that is how they spell it in Russia.  That was exciting.  We walked down the street to dinner. We forgot the Russian translation book and no one spoke English so we just pointed to some pictures.  It turned out to be good pizza; wonderful crust with all kinds of random ingredients on it.  We walked back to the hotel and again stopped for that awesome ice cream!  Hey, we are doing lots of walking so hopefully that will help.

We Will Take Nothing But The Clothes On His Back

Tomorrow we have a free day.  We might do a little shopping.  We need to get socks and shoes for Ilya.  He will take nothing with him from the orphanage.  We will bring his new clothes and dress him there and we will take him with us tomorrow afternoon.  I plan on asking the orphanage workers all the questions I can think of about him.  Foods and drinks he likes.  Nap time and bed time routines (probably not much of one), does he like the stroller, etc.

Feeling A Little Nerval and Excital

I must say I feel a little nervous, almost like a first-time mom.  I remember being in the hospital with Emma, our oldest, when I had the c-section and when we were about a day from coming home, I was astounded that they were going to let us take this baby home.  I mean, we didn’t know what to do with her.  Don’t we need some kind of training or something?  That’s what I’ve kind of been thinking today.  My goodness, we don’t even know what he will do or be like or how to keep him happy etc, etc.  BUT, I know it will all be ok and I must say I am thankful that Matt will be here to help carry him around  :)  My precious pack-mule :)

We will also give gifts to the orphanage workers that worked in his room and took care of him for this last year.  We understand that cash in an envelope is best.  They are all so sweet and I imagine there will be tears tomorrow.

Ok, I’m going online to order a playpen from Target now.  More later.

Love, Allison

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Hi guys,

Just wanted to quickly show you something I have been doing with my Bible lately.  I really do like reading these verses from the actually Book versus from my iPhone or a piece of paper, though those will certainly do in a pinch.  I got this from my good friend Jen.  Thanks sis!

This is my Bible that has 4 versions in it.  I like this because I can quickly see how the original King James said it, how the Amplified says it with more descriptive words and how the NIV (the first version I ever had and  still my favorite) says it.  The 4th version is the NASB.

I got these purple rectangular shaped post-it notes with the sticky stuff on the far right (short side) of the post-it note, and marked each healing verse from the 40 verses I talked about in this post A Miraculous Story of Healing.

There are more healing verses, but I’m starting with these.  Next I will continue with other favorite, helpful verses in different colors to differentiate from the specific “healing” verses.

I wrote on the post-it note the purpose of that verse (which you will find for the 40 Healing verses in my other post referenced above)

and then highlight the verse.

I truly believe these Words that God has given us are the key to our health and joy in life.  I’d sure hate to stand up there and have him say “I gave you everything you needed.  Why didn’t you use it?”

God Bless You and take time for these things.  I say that to myself as much as to anyone else.

Love,

Allison

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The honest truth is, I’m not sure WHAT the secret is for a good chore plan.  I suppose it is very similar to homeschooling curriculum.  If mama don’t like it, it ain’t gonna work.

Life in this area definitely gets easier as your children get older.  So hang in there Mamas with young ones.  You WILL emerge from the dark years soon.  And then you will look back and wonder where the time went.  Just keep plugging and training and I promise it WILL pay off.

You don’t want to end up with 14-18 year olds that won’t lift a finger to help run your household.  And their future spouses will not be  happy either :)

This is what works for us right now.  BUT it could change at any time as we see that certain children become capable of new jobs.

1 – PUBLISH YOUR CHORES

They Gotta Know The Rules

This is huge.  We cannot expect our children to be successful in doing chores if the chore expectations are not published. Just like the government puts speed limit signs on the road so we know the rules, we MUST also post a chore chart for our children in a central place so THEY know the rules.

They Are Still Small

They are small and learning and they WILL NOT remember what is expected of them if we do not publish our chores. It will be hard enough even when we do publish, so that should be our #1 foundation.  For children who cannot read, draw or post a picture for each chore.  A picture of a bed means “Make your bed.”

Conserve Your Energy, Mom

The beauty of posting the chores is, instead of you trying to remember what their jobs are and then asking if they have done each one, you simply say in your sweetest voice (or at least try :) “Is your list done?” or  ”Check your list.”  Saving Mom’s voice is very important.

WE USE PAPER INSIDE A PAGE PROTECTOR

It’s not as pretty as a beautifully organized white board (which I have used) but it won’t get accidentally erased by a child.  And I can quickly write up a new plan if I want to change things around.  I buy these steno pads from Staples and use them for everything from journals to taking notes to things like chore charts.

2 – LET THEM CHECK OFF JOBS WHEN COMPLETED

Do we love checklists? And then making that checkmark when the job is done? Yes we do! So let them do that too!

3 – SET A REGULAR TIME DAILY

Our children do their regular/daily chores between 8-9am (usually.) Actually my two older girls have been getting up at 6 or 7am and doing their chores so they can get them out of the way.

Also, at random times, my husband or I will decide an area in the house or outside cannot go a moment longer without being cleaned and we will gather all the children and get busy right then.  Even our 3 year old was stacking logs the other day.

An Aside On How We Got Rid Of Our Housekeeper

I can start hyperventilating on this subject if I don’t keep myself in check!

A huge house

We have a huge, old house built in 1939. It’s about 6300 square feet. And we don’t have a housekeeper. Gasp! We bought it from my mother after my father died back in 2005.  (Bless his heart.) We thought it would be great to keep it in the family, but one of my biggest worries was how to keep it up and still have a life.

I was adamant, but…

When we moved here I said to my husband “There is no way we can keep up with this house without a housekeeper.” It was over twice the size of our last house. At the same time I knew deep down, the children needed to get involved in maintaining it.  It’s a great way to start developing a good work ethic.  ”I cannot raise lazy children,” I thought.

Brain Fry

But back then, they were only 8, 5 and 2. The thought of me trying to homeschool, clean AND train the children to clean at that age was busting out the RAM in my brain, so for awhile we had 2 ladies cleaning our house 1 time a week for several hours. That STILL left a lot for us to do.

Out they went

Finally, as the children got a couple of years older and in an attempt to save money AND instill that all-important work ethic, we got rid of our housekeepers and started doing it ourselves. Yes, I was scared!  We do have a young lady that helps with the children at various times throughout the week and she helps too.  (Thank the Lord!)

So far, so good

We are now going on several years of this plan and it is a wonderful thing. My perfectionist need for a scrupulously clean house has changed. (With the help and support of my mom friends :) My relationship with my children is more important than a perfectly dusted mantle, though that need-for-clean is still deep inside me.

Someday the children will be gone

It is a balancing act. Allowing dust bunnies under the buffet to go unswept for days is a huge part of my “parent training” and I continually have to fight not being bugged by that. Though at the same time, we must have order in the home. Decluttered, tidy, order.

Whew! Just remembering that these babies will be grown and gone in the blink of an eye, and that I WILL have a clean house, but it will be quite empty of the life and laughter we have now, is helpful in getting me on the straight and narrow path of this subject. Now. Back to our 5 steps.

4 – INSPIRE THEM

I’m frequently and very animatedly (is that a word?) saying things like,

“Hey guys.

Do you think I want to be here washing these dishes or would I prefer playing with you, reading books, watching movies, or  going to the park?

Your dad and I are preparing you for life! You will always have chores and work in life, and as part of this family, you have chores now. How would our house look if we didn’t ever sweep this floor or clean the kitchen? (They squeal – Yuckyyyyyyyyy.)

Do you really think I can or should do all of this and you guys should just sit around and do nothing? (They answer with downcast eyes – Noooooooo.)

So here is the plan.

We do the chores as fast and as well-done as possible and as soon as we are done, we get to do the really fun stuff.

Like go to the cool children’s museum in Seminole, Oklahoma.

Or knit and listen to Mom read really good books.

We are a team. We/you have a purpose in the world. You must learn to obey us, your parents, so you will understand as you grow up how to obey other authorities – like a boss…. and the law…..and most importantly, God. We are teaching you how to follow His lead for your life, because He has an awesome plan for you. He gave you each amazing gifts and abilities that are unfolding as you grow.

Isn’t that exciting?

Yes it is! So come on, let’s do this stuff, so we can get on with the really big stuff!”

For some reason it’s very easy for me to start talking to them about chores (or any other mundane subject) and wind up talking about God’s awesome plan for their life!

Oh and, by the way, cranking the music up can help.

5 – REWARD THEM

Life is full of actions with either consequences or benefits. It will always be that way. We do expect our children to be part of our team, part of maintaining our house,

part of helping and teaching each other things,

part of preparing meals for the family,

part of making sure we all have clean clothes and the list goes on.  And at the same time we want to reward them for a job well done. So….stay tuned for the next post on how we reward them.

God Bless Ladies!  Train Those Children Up To Be World Changers!

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I Am Not A Crafty Person

In fact, doing messy crafts with my children is honestly one of my least favorite things to do.  This is why I love taking them to our local Art and Science Museum so they can craft until their hearts are content.  BUT, if the end result is something useful as opposed to some kind of macaroni picture that is supposed to hang on the fridge, then sometimes I can be persuaded.

Here Was My Motivation

Meg and I found this recipe for Rose Almond Soap and unbelievably, I had almost everything necessary to make it.  I thought “This is something we can actually use,” and I loved the name. So. I was motivated. Life is so much better when Mom is motivated :)

I was on my way to the health food store anyway, so I could easily add Geranium Essential Oil to the list.  I know you are thinking “You had rosewater on hand?”  Well, I bought it probably over 2 years ago when I had some bright idea to make something, then never did.  Seems it sat there forever waiting for this moment.

Ingredients

Rose petals – 2 T

Almonds – 2 T

Soap - 2   4 oz bars (something plain like Ivory or Castille) or 8 oz of soap flakes (which I don’t think exist anymore – I looked and asked and couldn’t find any)

Rose water – 1/2 cup

You can make rosewater by taking 1 firmly  packed cup of rose petals.  Pour 2 cups of boiling water over it.  Cover and let steep until cool.  Drain.

Geranium Essential Oil – 9 drops       Anything would work.  I just like the sound of  ”Geranium.”

Boiling Water – 2/3 cup

Recipe

Put your rose petals on a cookie sheet and dry them. Ours were somewhat dry to begin with, drooping off their stems several weeks after Valentine’s Day.

I dried the yellow ones too, but only used the red for this recipe.

We have a warming rack above our stove so I put them under the heat lamps until they were crisp. You could put them in a dehydrator or in the oven on the lowest setting.

After they crisp up, crush them. The mortar and pestle worked well. But crushing with your fingers is definitely just as good.

Next, the almonds.

I used the coffee bean grinder to grind them up.

And then grate the soap. You can also use a food processor with the grate blade.

Now mix together the soap flakes, crushed rose petals and boiling water in a bowl til smooth.  If the soap starts to solidify, place the bowl over near-boiling water.  Mine did not even come close to solidifying while we were stirring.

Be thrilled that you are finally doing a craft with your precious child that you will get to enjoy!

Add the ground almonds.

And now the rosewater, (I’m thinking you could add plain water if you didn’t want to go to the trouble of getting or making rosewater.)

and the geranium essential oil (or whichever oil your heart desires.)

Mix it up good.

Next is the part you will be very happy your children get to do and not you. Separate the goop into 6 sections and mold each section into a ball.

Lay each ball on wax paper.

Take another sheet of wax paper and flatten them out a bit.

About this much.  Blurry, but I wanted you to see this.

You can also take a cookie cutter and make a shape like Meg did.

Then let them dry out a day or two or three on the counter.  Turn them over and let the underneath side dry too.  They really look different after they dry.

In fact, they kind of match the counter now.

I’ve enjoyed using this soap and it is a great gift.

This recipe came from this book that I found at our last homeschool convention.  It has become one of my favorite books to have in the kitchen.

Have fun with this!  God Bless You!

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A few days ago, I was standing outside in the driveway.  It was a very pretty day.  The beginning of spring.  I was just looking around at the sky and the trees and as I stood there I had this sort of strange thought or vision.   I’m not sure what it was, but it felt like….like a glimpse into heaven.  It sort of seemed that time had just stopped for a moment.

I saw myself in heaven, after I had lived a long life, looking back down over my life and the chance I was given “at life.” And I was asking myself the question “Why was I such a chicken?”  ”Why didn’t I just say and do exactly what I had worked so many years to think and believe, and not worry if this person or that person MIGHT be offended.  I had my chance.  My chance of 100 years, more or less, to really make a difference in the world.  And I succumbed to the thorn in my side that others provided.  To the opinions others had of who I was, how I lived my life, the choices I made, the words I chose to use and the tone I might have had.

And evil, that force that does not want me to bring light or help or an idea to the souls of this earth that crave it, was satisfied.  Evil thought he had done a good job.  Those thoughts that he’d planted into the heads of the people who came upon my path and got me off the course God had set for me, had done their job nicely.  Thank you very much.  Not to mention the thoughts evil had dropped into my own mind and I had allowed to take hold.

And so…….I was distracted by the earthly.  By the dailyness of silly, unimportant minutia.   Words and actions of others that weren’t part of God’s plan for me.  Better said:  I allowed myself to be distracted by the things of this world.  I allowed a diversion from my course, my destiny, my adventure, my purpose, the reason God sent me here with these particular gifts and abilities.  I allowed evil to penetrate my world, when all along, at any moment, I had always had the power to send it away.  To correct my course.  To steer straight again.  Just like Dorothy could have gone home at any time with the whisper of a few words.  Jesus.

Whooooossshhhhh!  Back down to earth.

The wonderful thing about getting older is we start to care less and less about what other’s think of us.  Haven’t you spoken to amazing older men or women (the kind you want to be like) that were set in their ways and beliefs and didn’t give a whit about what anyone thought?

And just when I was looking for something good about aging as I saw another wrinkle in the mirror the other day, God provided me with this little experience.

You are, indeed, an awesome God.

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Powder – Definitely Easier

I gave you a recipe for Liquid Laundry Detergent, about a year ago, but over the last 6 months or so, I have been making this powdered version thanks to various friends (Ladonna & Catherine!)who convinced me it was easier. They were right!  So much easier!

Easy Vs Chemicals In Our Bodies

And please, give me anything to get drudgery work done quickly, but not at the expense of one more chemical IN or ON my body. You know? It is a balancing act, that I think much about.

Heavy Lifting

Honestly though, I do not like lugging those huge heavy jugs of detergent home from the store. I would prefer to buy bars of soap and boxes of borax at various times when I run out. This really is a more pleasant experience all the way around.

The Directions – Just Do It – It Will Make You Happy :)

Here is the soap I use. Kirk’s Castile. I’ve heard that people also use Fels Naptha, Ivory and Zote.  I think I may try Zote next.  It’s quite a bit less expensive.

2 bars soap

4 cups borax

4 cups washing soda

And here are the only other two ingredients. Washing Soda (NOT baking soda) and Borax.

See, here they are on the store shelf. Usually together and easy to pick up.

For the recipe I use, you will grate 2 bars of soap. I always get one of my children to do it.

Sometimes we take turns grating while other things are going on in the kitchen. Hey, I will grate if one of the girls wants to load the dishwasher instead!

And here I have 4 cups of borax and 4 cups of washing soda together.

I like this plastic container on the left to keep the detergent in. It sits on top of the dryer.

So here is the soap, grated in the container it will live in.

Pour in the borax and washing soda.

Stir it up and you are done.

I keep this 1/8 cup measuring spoon in the container. You can literally use 1 Tablespoon on a light load.  I usually use the full 2 T scoop and sometimes 2.

Why All These Pictures?

Why in the world do I use all of these pictures for these posts. I will tell you. I learn visually. I mean, I probably learn 500% better if I see the pictures or a chart, than if someone just tells me something. I think that is why I am terrible at remembering names. Thank goodness my husband is not.

When My Eyes Glaze Over

Sometimes my husband will start telling me about somebody’s aunt’s sister’s husband related to the 2nd cousin’s daughter. Argh! Stop! I can’t take it! The only way I can even begin to comprehend what you are saying is if you will make me a chart, a family tree or something. But, alas, that usually takes too long, so “just give me the gist of the story, hon.” Anyway, that’s why.  And I’m guessing there are a lot of you out there like me.

Again, thanks for your time.   I know it is precious.

God Bless You all!

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You might like one of these posts too.

• Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent – Yes, I’m Serious.
• Rose Almond Soap – Make Your Own
• Curried Chicken & Rice (leftovers)
• Chicken Pie – Meal #3 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Chicken Noodle Soup – Meal #2 of 3 from 1 Chicken

I am now attempting to see how fast I can put a post together with this new software I found called Blogo. So we are off and running!

This dish is another great leftover dish to use that remaining chicken you have from the wonderful Roast Chicken you made the other night :)

Start With The Rice

While it is cooking, oh about 20 minutes for white rice (I like basmati,) and maybe 45-50 minutes for brown rice, which is what we have here, you will make the Curried Chicken.

Brown rice is my definite favorite. It makes me feel like I’m doing something good and healthy.  And I need as much of that as absolutely possible, because you can bet I love my Dark Chocolate with Mint 3 Musketeers bar!  Yes, I do. I admit it.

Cooked Brown Rice

If you don’t own a rice cooker, I semi-implore you to go get one. You can live without one. That is for sure. And if you are doing serious budget work, then don’t get it, but if you can fit it in, this is another of my favorite kitchen tools.

Why I Like Rice Cookers

I can put all the ingredients in several hours ahead of time. Rice, water, olive oil, salt. Then just let it sit there, all afternoon if necessary, and when I’m ready, all I have to do is flip that little switch and perfect rice is on the way.  All by itself. Amazing. I think I got this at StuffMart.

Groan.  Fuzzy photo.

Now on with the Curry. Saute some onions and celery. I think this was 1 onion and maybe 4-5 stalks of celery sauteed in butter or coconut oil.

Get your milk out.

And just splash some in there. Maybe a cup or so.

And now for the curry. I like a lot, so make sure you have more than just a teaspoon on hand.

Gosh, I think I probably put at least 3 tablespoons in. After a bit you can taste and add more curry or more milk depending on your tolerance for spice.

Now stir it up and add some salt and pepper to taste.  Mmmm.  That is starting to look good!

And now, I know you saved that good chicken broth from the bottom of your pan when you made that Roast Chicken. And put it in a jar. Right? Ok, next time. Just use some bouillon or canned broth if you don’t have this. I sure don’t mean to make you feel bad. Just joking around :)

So after you have skimmed that fat off the top and thrown it away, take a few tablespoons of this gelled up broth and stir it in.

Add your leftover chicken.

Add some chopped vegies of any sort. I have broccoli and cauliflower because it was going to go bad if I didn’t use it, but usually I use frozen vegetables.

This dish definitely needs more color and I just happened to have the cooked carrots from the Roast Chicken, so we will add those too.

They were stored in the fridge with the chicken.  Ok.  They are not gross or anything :)

And there you have it. You really want it a little soupy so you can pour the curry sauce over the rice.

Enjoy ladies. Another very easy dish. I have reheated this in my cast iron pan twice this week for lunch.

Let’s see.  That took 1 hour and 7 minutes.  Probably a record.  But that doesn’t mean much.  This was one of the easier topics.

And by the way, I have been on a recipe rampage lately.  Promise I will get to some other topics soon, but you know how it is.  Gotta just go with the flow.

Love you guys for reading these ramblings!

Godspeed!

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• Rose Almond Soap – Make Your Own
• Powder Laundry Detergent – Yes, Homemade :)
• Chicken Pie – Meal #3 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Chicken Noodle Soup – Meal #2 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Sherried Tomato Soup

And finally, the 3rd installment, in “3 Meals with 1 Chicken.”  Here is my recipe for Chicken Pie.  Of all 3 dishes, this may be my favorite  because it is such comfort food.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

• Leftover Chicken Noodle Soup
• Butter
• Flour
• Milk
• Oil (I like to use coconut oil)
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Any frozen vegies you happen to have.

I had quite a bit of leftover soup and I was making this recipe for 11 children on a Saturday evening and for 5 adults and 4 children for the next day’s Sunday lunch.

I made 2 large pyrex pans. I am going to give you the approximate amounts for what I made.  If I were to cut this in half, I would simply cut the dough recipe in half, but leave the rest about the same.  You really cannot mess this up.

Chicken Pie Filling

Start by melting a stick of butter in a stock pot.

After it is completely melted, stir in about 3/4-1 cup of flour.

It may get pasty pretty fast, so be ready to add the milk.  1-1 1/2 cups.  Or just add a little at a time.

Now just add a little flour or a little milk as needed.  Your goal is to have it end up looking like this. Not too liquidy.  More on the pasty side.  This is going to thicken your chicken soup.

Stir in your chicken soup mixture.

It helps to have a Professional Stirrer.  This is my best friend Jennifer.  7 of her 8 children (Abigail is too young) and my 4 children will be eating this Chicken Pie tonight.  Check out her website. My hubby is cooking up some kind of surprise for the adults.  Mmmm.

Add some salt and pepper to taste.

Now just pull out whatever frozen vegies you happen to have and throw them in.  I’m glad I had peas and corn because I really like those in Chicken Pie.  A little ice on the peas.  Hey, no big deal.

Stir some more.

And taste.  Jen is also the Professional Taster for the evening.

If you feel your mixture is not thick enough, like in this photo below,

pour it back in your pot (like we did) and add some cornstarch (we added about a cup) and let it cook on about medium.  As it cooks, it will thicken.  If you don’t have cornstarch, mix up some flour and water or milk into a paste and stir that in.  If you don’t mix the flour and milk into a paste, you will have clumps.  And, heaven forbid,  we cannot have clumps.

Let that just sit and simmer on low for a bit while you make your dough for the top.

Dough

This dough recipe comes from one of my two absolute favorite cookbooks.  The MOMYS cookbook.  That stands for Mothers Of Many Young Siblings.  I’m using the recipe on page 479 for Quick Biscuits by Jackie King.

• 6-8 cups flour
• 3 T baking powder
• 1 T salt
• 3/4 cup oil (we use coconut)
• 3 cups milk

Get out your mixer and your dough hook.

Start with 6 cups flour and 3 T of baking powder.  I say 6-8 cups in the ingredient list because it depends on how course your flour is.  I’m grinding our flour before I use it and fresh ground flour tends to be finer, so I tend to need more flour.   But read on.  You will just adjust to how it looks.

Add 1 T salt.

This is melted coconut oil.

Below you can see it hardened.  Looks a bit like crisco from a distance, but it is the opposite in terms of health benefits.

Hopefully I remember to set the jar of coconut oil on this cup warmer ($1 at the thrift store) before I start cooking and it is all nice and melted when I’m ready to use it.  I can’t remember where I got this idea, but thank you whoever you are!

I love it because I keep this jar of hardened oil handy for other things, like frying an egg, but then I can just pop it on the warmer if I need a larger amount for a recipe.

Mix 3 cups of milk and 3/4 cup of liquified oil into a measuring cup or bowl.

Pour it into your flour mixture and start mixing.  My Kitchen Aid mixer says never mix dough on a higher speed than 2.  It will damage your mixer.  I stuck a note on it to remind me of that.

This still needs a little more flour.  As you mix your dough, you may need to add more flour.  A little at a time.  You do not want this like bread dough that totally cleans the sides of the pan when it is correctly mixed up.  This is biscuit dough.  Biscuit dough remains a little wetter.  A little stickier.  Just a bit.

While your dough is mixing, pour your chicken filling into the pans.  Yum.  It’s looking good already.

Spread out some flour on your counter.  You are about to roll out the dough.

This is about the consistency of dough that you want.  Still has a little stickiness in it.  Think about how commercial biscuit dough is a little sticky.

Roll it out, oh maybe to about 1/3 inch thick.

For 15 years I carried around a beautiful stone rolling pin that I NEVER used.  Just wasn’t into cooking at that time.  In a decluttering fit, I got rid of it.  That is one of the few things I wish I hadn’t gotten rid of.

I use a pint size mason jar with the small opening to cut out the dough circles.  But anything will work.

Now gather this leftover dough into a ball again, roll it out, and make more circles.

Use leftover dough pieces to fill in around the circles.  Each serving will get a circle, plus some of the extra small dough pieces.  Now put it in the oven and bake at 425 degrees for 10-20 minutes.

All done!  Let’s eat!

Ahhh.  Food, friends and family.  Life doesn’t get much better.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

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You might like one of these posts too.

• Chicken Noodle Soup – Meal #2 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Roast Chicken – Meal #1 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Rose Almond Soap – Make Your Own
• Powder Laundry Detergent – Yes, Homemade :)
• Curried Chicken & Rice (leftovers)