In an effort to cut back on energy costs, I’ve decided to purchase this, instead of making our washer/dryer rental payment next time.
It does a five pound load at a time, which is perhaps on the small side for our family, but its done in five minutes, as opposed to the half hour cycle I currently sit through. It will conserve energy, AND we will save 30.00 per mo on the washer/dryer payment. 
would you hear the phrase, “Hey Mom, you need to make some more deodorant.”
Guess I should work on the formula for shampoo and conditioner while I’m at it, huh?
Wow, I have a lot to do today. I’m glad I dont have anywhere to go or anything major to get do outside of the housework. I’m feeling rather exhausted as of late, and I’d really like to be able to just rest, but that’s not going to get the laundry done. So, with that, I give you (and me) today’s to do list:
House:
1.) Laundry, Laundry, Laundry. Make no mistake, that does not mean there are only 3 loads. I could be doing laundry all day. I have NO idea how it piles up so quickly. I’m *this* close to switching my kids to uniforms, LOL!
2.) Clean my room. I changed my linens, and thats as far as I got. I still haven’t completely recovered from the trip to my brothers wedding, and my room is proof.
3.) Scrub bathroom floors.
4.) Change cat box. Yay.
5.) Starch and press dh’s shirts. Life is so much easier when I do them all at once!
6.) Dust. Must. Dust.
Kitchen:
7.) Start Buttermilk sourdough starter, check existing starter, and peek on my Kombucha brew.
8.) Make yogurt
9.) Clean out fridge in preparation for my new fridge arriving on Saturday. This needs to be done so that I have a place to put the yogurt when its done too, lol…
10.) Try not to fall asleep in the process.
I did it. I got a vegetable in Gavin. I cannot even believe it.
One of the things he will consistently eat is strawberry yogurt. Of course, not anything with actual fruit in it, but those kid yogurt drinks, and the yoplait creamy strawberry too. Since I have been making my own yogurt, I have discovered how to get him to eat mine too. I add a bit of strawberry jello powder, a dash of vanilla, and a pinch of sugar to his serving, and shake it up really well.
Today, I took it a step further. I used Kefir instead of yogurt. I *juiced* about 8 strawberries, and a handful of spinach, and added it to the kefir. I still added my usual vanilla/sugar/jello powder, and shook it up.
The kid drank it. I can hardly believe it. Its the first veggie he has consumed since he was 10 months old. He’s nine now. This is monumental.
Got this month’s pg&e bill today. As you may (or may not) remember, my bill was 498.00 last month. Since I rec’d that bill, I’ve turned up the a/c five degrees, installed a clothes line (only using the dryer five times in the last month!) sat in the dark the majority of the month, changed all the lightbulbs to a lower wattage, turned the pool filter/cleaner thing down from six hours to 3 hours, and had the a/c unit serviced to hopefully help it run more efficiently. We also bought a new energy efficient fridge, but it comes next Saturday.
Got my bill today.
406.00. It went down, yes, but seriously?!!?! Over 400.00 still?!
I’m starting to wonder if this house (a rental) is just not energy efficient enough for us to say here. I know summer doesnt last forever, but at this rate, summer is going to cost us close to $2000.00! There’s only so much that cooking from scratch and thrift storing can make up for!
Visit me here to see Piper and I fixing Chicken Fiesta Salad with a little help from G & T too!
sourdough bread=miserable failure.
I’m ok with this. I really am. I am totally cool with the umpteen cups of flour I wasted. No, really, I am. Swear. I’ve “started” over, and this time it will work.
This time, I broke the rule of the frugal, healthy eating, all natural, above rubies reading homemakers. I used yeast. *insert dramatic music here*
I just dont think I catch enough “wild” yeast here! I got my starter recipe here and it is currently brewin’ up in my newly designated “brewing cabinet”. I’m also putting some buttermilk in there today. Kombucha and Kefir are next if I can get my hands on either of them any time soon!
Of course, with my miserable sourdough failure a reality, I fixed some white bread this morning because its my fastest recipe. I’m way out of any kind of bread, and it will be baked in about 10 minutes. I just started the bread around 7:30, and I’m already set to bake! Not bad, right?
The magnificent recipe can be found here. I highly recommend you try it. I do the first part of the recipe (before the first rise) in my kitchenaid and then knead the last round by hand. Its fun to make too because it ends up being a HUGE lump of dough before you divide it. My kids get an absolute kick out of it!!
I suppose there cannot be success without failure, so I continue the path of “Trial and Terror” until I am able to get a nice loaf of sourdough on my table.
Happy baking, ladies!
I am waiting for the bagels to cool so I can go to BED, so I thought I’d better jot down the things I’m thinking of, or I will surely forget them by morning.
My day should look something like this:
*trick my children into eating banana oatmeal bread by turning it into reeeallllly cinnamon-y french toast. (yes, I really did have that many bananas to use up) yeah, so they didnt really go for it, but they ate SOME of it. I’d rather they ate a little oatmeal banana bread french toast than a lot made from white bread I suppose.
*wash all the laundry I decided not to wash today.
*Clean the kids’ rooms MY way.
*Trim Trin’s bangs and finish Gavins haircut that I started a week ago.
*Make a killer batch of jamaica
*make yogurt. I’m almost out AGAIN.
*find a use for that one remaining spreckled banana. I just dont know if I have what it takes to find a use for it. found a use for it. its a space taker in the trash can. 
*prepare a really killer dinner for the hubs. he deserves it. tonight’s dinner was good, but it was a repeat of last night’s dinner, so I’m not sure that counts. I would really like to try a recipe I havent done before.
*try not to cry. I counted, and I cried every day this week, and no I dont have PMS.
Lots of kitchen prep, as you see. Maybe there’s a video blog in there somewhere.
Happy Friday ladies…
It’s pushing 10pm and I’m up making bagels. Its too hot during the day, and the bananas were approaching the point of no return, so the sacrifice had to be made.
They turned out simply beautiful, by the way. I’ll charge the camera and get a pic or vid tomorrow.
Recipe is as follows:
1 egg, room temperature, plus enough water to equal 1 cup. (Water about 80*)
2 TBL oil. I use coconut oil.
1 TBL honey (the honey will slide right out of the measuring spoon after the oil has been in there!)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c mashed banana (about one large-ish banana)
2.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
2 1/4 tsp yeast
Add ingredients in order into bread machine and run on dough cycle.
Once completed, dump dough onto lightly flour surface and seperate into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, and poke a hole in the center of each with your thumb. Carefully stretch each hole evenly, making the hole about 1 inch wide. Place on greased cookie sheet, cover, and let rise for about 30 min or until doubled in size. Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with whatever desired (I used poppy seeds) and bake for 20 minutes.
I am using them for breakfast tomorrow, toasted, topped with peanut butter. Peanut butter and banana sandwiches…sorta. 
I’m having a hard time right now, so perhaps I can perk myself up with my own blog post. I’m not sure if that’s irrational, unlikely, or just plain arrogant, but still worth a shot.
So, with that, I give you, 13 pictures on my computer that make me smile.
1.) My son found this while picking fruit with his Papa. He FOUND it. My little geologist…only he would find such a thing in a random fruit orchard.
2.) The side shot of the same pic
3.) this pic of the pool. dunno why, just makes me happy.
4.) Piper cleaning, by any means necessary. She is a crack up.
5.) This pic of my fat can Marquette…and the Teeny Weeny plotting her demise.
6.) This picture of the way Piper made her bed. This was about six months ago. I think its adorable that she made sure her stuffed unicorn “uni” had some form of recreational activity presented to her.
7.) This pic of the blossoms early in the spring during a huge thunderstorm. I really love how this picture makes me feel.
8.) My poor cat, Miata…she clearly feels a little trapped.
9.) Creepy fisherman fish bowl dude. Everyone hates him. I dont.
10.) This graphic my friend Sarah made to illustrate to Trinity WHY she was in trouble for breaking something on a rental car, and painting on various surfaces in the house. It was hilarious, but effective.
11.) This pic of me officiating my friends’ wedding. Such a neat day. I’m glad I have people like them in my life.
12.) Piper, just after she turned 3, with her long flowing gorgeous hair.
13.) Same gorgeous kid, days later, just 2 weeks before she was going to be a flower girl in the wedding show above. I wish this was the last time she gave herself a new “look”
I guess there are certain things that suck at the moment, but you can possibly smile about later…or at least, not feel like poop when you think about it.
check out www.thursday-13.com for more.
