House full of sick people ~ Storm on the way

We have all been sick these last few days.  We have been soothing sore throats with hot teas.

Before I became worse, or had a house full of sick ones, I was able to crochet a new dishcloth pattern.  I used scrap Christmas colors for next Christmas.

And, crocheted a simple (sc, ch1, sk 1 st, sc) scarf for one of the kids, with yarn I had on hand.  I also cranked out a rough draft article.

My husband, even though it was not in the spending budget, allowed my 11 year-old to pick out yarn for her crocheted, hope chest blanket.  

What is so amazing, is that she picked 2 yarn colors I have leftover from another blanket (she had no idea), and only one additional color to buy.  I decided, since I am not feeling so good, to use the same pattern as the scraf, and I created this rotation of colors on my own.  I will edge it in orchid when it is completed.

Thankfully, my son ran errands, and is helping around the house, because I am still sick.  Two more kids are home, and a storm is on the way.  He's been very helpful in stocking up water (freezing pipes), supplies for sickness and more.  He's even hanging the sheets out on the line.  The wind is strong, and I felt our sheets, which carry germs, needed to be washed.  

 (19°F / Feels like 4°F)

I'm getting yelled at to get my "germs" off the computer now....they are predicting 12-15 inches of snow.  Who knows how much we will actually get.

Cleaning House ~ What's your muse?

What inspires you to start and finish cleaning your home?  When I write, I have a few muses that pump my thoughts with ideas.  When I clean, I typically have music on.   My kids are motivated to clean if they are allowed to have a friend over (house rule: you invite, you clean).  Prayer and inspirational quotes are also motivating. 

Today, I was motivated by a note my daughter left me.  We often "noter" each other and it inspires up to get through the day with a positive attitude.  I'll add a photo later for you to see the note she left on my bed this morning.

Yesterday, believe it or not, I was so tired and stressed, I actually stopped everything and perched myself on the couch.  Only a few minutes later, I was snuggled up with one dog and sleeping.  I am not one to nap, but I woke up revived and ready to start dinner.  Amazing how a little break can help you feel.

When you are under stress and you feel you are at your limit, read something fun and take a break. You never know, you may fall asleep and get the rest your body needs anyway.

You May Also Enjoy:

How to Enjoy Cleaning Your House

Short Stories:  Laundry Day

How to Increase Bedroom Storage

The Secret to Cleaning the Bathroom

Kitchen Storage Solutions

How to get your kids to help with chores

Looking to Family History for House Cleaning Goals 

I am currently working on improving the above article.  On that particular site, writers have one offer (and only one) to rewrite each article to improve it.

Dishcloth Swap

Here is a dishcloth I received in a dishcloth swap.  I was also tickled to receive a surprise, or two, of a notepad and an ornament.  How cool is that?

Reducing Pet Food Costs ~ Peas Please

If your family is watching every penny spent, then you are like our family.  We have noticed that dry dog food has caused one of our dogs to become slightly overweight.  Even though they are walked 3 or more times a day and are taken out to play fetch, and run and run and run.....one of them remains a bit overweight.

My daughter, after she participated in a job shadow at our local veterinarian, found out that we can simply replace 1/2 of our dog's food serving with vegetables, such as peas and carrots.

We not only noticed a healthier dog, but found out that the other dogs were sneaking over to his food bowl and eating the peas too.  We have reduced our pet food costs, and proved our pets with a healthier diet.  We grew peas and carrots in the garden last year, and plan to grow more, now that our pets are enjoying our homegrown foods as well.

Relationships with your kids

I have a child home sick today.  Although I know I need to wash laundry, hang it outside, vacuum, sweep the kitchen, wash leftover dishes, feed animals, and start mass cleaning on my bedroom, I know I need to tend to my child.  Did I mention my writing time also?

I think the hardest part women at home have, is putting everything aside and putting full, and complete attention, to a child.  When they are sick, it's easier, because our instincts are to care for our children, but what about other days?

Creating better relationships with our children is so important, especially now that the media provides easy access to areas on the Internet, television, and cell phones that kids should not be exposed to.   Even being in school can be a place where a child learns or sees things they should be prepared to say "no" to.

Kids often reflect on their parents behavior as well.   I realized that when my 9 year-old came home from school one day.  She said the teacher asked a question in regards to a book they were reading.  The boy, a character in the book, was hurt messing around when he should have been working.  My daughter's response to the teacher's questions, were "My Mom says work before play."  Even when we think they aren't watching or listening to us, they are.

You may also enjoy reading:  How to Create Family Traditions

A Day to Celebrate

I finally finished my 16 year-old's blanket.  She is soon to turn 17 and it will be part of her hope chest.  However, because the upstairs is not heated, she is getting her blanket today.

Here is a close up of the stitching 

I have one more child to crochet a blanket for, and then I can start on a bedspread for my own bed.  I just need to decide on pattern and color.

Bean Baking Day ~ Putting Food By ~ What to do with the crumbs at the bottom of your cereal box

My largest crock pot will cook up 3 pounds of dry black beans nicely.  For my family, I bake them up with chopped onions, salt and pepper. 

Once these are baked (pre-soaked the night before) I cool them.  They are frozen for future meals.  Some may end up in tonight's dinner.  We are having a lot of fun searching out healthier meals using dry beans.  We recently used the last of the black beans I had in the freezer.

Yesterday, we made Pumpkin Black Bean Soup, and found it delicious.  It's got a spicy~sweet combo going on.  We will be keeping that recipe.  Although the recipe calls for canned tomatoes, I dumped in a quart sized bag of tomatoes I had frozen from last summer's garden.  I skipped the sour cream, and heavy cream.  I simply used 1 cup of organic milk.  For the chicken broth, I found organic, free range chicken broth on clearance for $1.49 for 4 cups (or you could make your own).

Here are other recipes, either from magazines such as Clean Eating, or from on-line that we revamped with garden goodies (simply swap out store bought with home grown, and use baked dry beans):

Chicken Black Bean and Avocado Wraps (Clean Eating, nutrition)

Mexican Pasta

Black Bean Pasta

Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

And don't forget you can add black beans to your egg dishes for breakfast too.  Yum!

It was perfect for a cold day, along with the banana bread I baked up.  Two loaves used up 6 rotten bananas, and my plan was to bake a third and freeze it.  However, my large family has snagged most of the bread to pack in school lunches tomorrow.

Yum!  We made with by cutting the flour in half and using half wholewheat from the flour mill, and 1/2 white flour.  I like the recipe we use for this, because it only requires 1 egg, and during winter our chickens lay less eggs.

Banana Bread (nuts optional)

3/4 cup wholewheat flour (preservative free)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour 

1/2 cup sugar, organic

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda 

1 cup of crushed leftover wheat breakfast cereal (optional, a way to use of the crumbs in the box)

1/3 cup chopped nuts

1 egg, farm fresh slightly beaten

1/4 canola oil or 1/4 cup organic applesauce

2 Tbsp. water

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease and flour a bread (loaf) pan, or spray the inside with a non-stick organic olive oil spray.  Stir together flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, wheat cereal, and nuts.  Combine egg, oil, water, mashed banana and vanilla in a separate bowl.  Add all the dry ingredients at once to the wet, and stir only until moistened.  Pour into your bread pan, and bake from 50-55 minutes or until bread is tested done with a toothpick (pressed into center of bread, if it comes out clean it is done).  Let the bread cool in the pan about 15 minutes and then remove.  Cool completely before slicing.  

Note:  The wholewheat flour tends to dry the bread more so than the white, so by eliminating the extra crushed cereal, you may find it a bit softer.