Make Your Own Liquid Hand Soap

For many years I made our own liquid hand soap from just a few simple ingredients.  I'm not as diligent with it as I once was, but I still enjoy how quick and easy this recipe is.

 

These are the ingredients I use:

Glycerin (tall bottle)

Essential oil (small bottle)

Bar of Soap (purple bar)

A little bit about each ingredient and how you can change it up a bit:

I purchased the glycerin from Hobby Lobby for under $4 and it lasts me at least a year.

The essential oil I use is peppermint oil, but this is really up to you and what fragrances or healing properties you like.  The soap shown here is a castille soap our family made during a soap-making party.  You can use any soap, but I recommend something natural like Fels Naptha, castille, or even Ivory.

Now, you need to grate your soap:

I use my Bosch Slicer/Shredder that I purchased from MarmeeDear.com.  I originally purchased the slicer/shredder in order to shred the bulk cheese we were getting wholesale.  It proved to be fantastic for this job as well.  However, if you don't own something like this, use an old fashioned grater and use the fine side so your soap will melt faster in the next step.

Put 1 cup of soap flakes in a pot.

You can choose to only grate 1 cup of soap at a time or you can grate the entire bar and save the rest for your next batch (that's what I do).

Cover the soap with 4 cups of water.  Add 1 Tbsp of glycerin and about 5 drops of essential oil.  Warm the pot on the stove until the soap flakes melt, stirring regularly.

 

 And you're finished!

From here, all I do is fill all my old soap dispensers with the warm soap (a funnel comes in quite handy here!)  

You may need to experiment with the glycerin amounts depending on the bar soap you use (a castille will possibly need more, a regular bar of soap may not need any at all!)

Try it out and come back and let me know how it turned out!

This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday.

From the Kitchen to the Table

Alright, you said you wouldn't laugh at me...

So, here's my How-To on getting meals from the kitchen to the table and actually getting to eat WITH your family.

First of all, I must give credit where credit is due. This was painstakingly taught to me by a lovely Titus 2 of a woman named Pam. I am actually thrilled to be able to pass on my tweaked version of what she taught me!




First issue to tackle is whether or not you know how to get all the food done close to the same time so you can bring it out at the same time. If you don't have this down, then you are in a whole heap of trouble before we even start.

The easiest way to figure this one out is to pay attention to the bake time and add to it a rough estimate of the prep time of each menu item. Count backward in time from when you want the meal ready according to the longest prep+bake time. Let me give you a tangible example of a meal so you can see how this would work:

Our meal is lasagna, salad, homemade french bread, and peach cobbler.

The french bread is the longest prep+bake time. Start there. It is going to take us 2 hours from start to finish; however, I need the bread to be out of the oven before the lasagna goes in. We want to eat at 6pm. I start the french bread at 2:15pm. (ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS give yourself MORE time than you think you need!)

The lasagna takes 1.5 hours start to finish. That means I have to have it started by 4:30pm. By that time, the french bread should be close to finished.

Next is the lasagna. It can bake at the same temp as the bread (but they will slow each other down...that is why I'm baking them separately).

Once the lasagna is in the oven, I can prepare the peach cobbler and set it aside because I will bake it while we are eating.

I figure a salad only takes about 10 minutes to prepare, so I can wait until the lasagna is out of the oven and cooling just a bit to finalize the salad.

See how that all works together?

Oh, and make sure you have a timer handy to keep you on track!



OK, here's where I needed help...the actual art of getting to sit down during the meal!

1. Rustle up any help you can find to set the table while you finalize the meal.
Even small children can carry things to the table! If there's no one to help, then do it yourself as soon as you have all the food in order.

2. Get EVERYTHING you need for the meal on the table (if you have a buffet or bar where you can put extra items use that too). Plates, silverware, glasses, butter, salad dressing, napkins, serving utensils, trivets, salt, pepper, etc. need to all be on or near the table. This is something else your children can help with. You set the items out while your little ones transfer them to the table.

3. Don't forget the items that will make your life easier, mom!
Do your children gulp down their water, leaving you to do 90 million mad dashes to the faucet and back? Fill a pitcher of water!
Does everyone want to sit by Daddy? Set up an assigned seating rotation!
Does someone always spill their drink? Have a large towel hung over the back of your chair!
Is someone always acting up at the table? Have your If/Then Chart handy!
Where are your problem areas? Brainstorm a solution!

4. Call 'em to the table.
My latest tool to get the children to the table is a bell. I've trained the children to drop everything and come when the bell rings. I seriously despise yelling for people to come to the table...the bell is MUCH more effective!

5. Bring out the food!
As they are coming to the table, bring out the food and place on the trivets/hot pads you've already set out.  If you have mostly littles, choose a main serving area where most of the food will congregate.  For us, this is in front of Daddy.  He is the official server-upper.

7.  Pray and THEN serve.
This was one of my biggest mistakes.  I used to always dish up the food and then expect everyone to stop chowing down in order to pray.  With a large family, it wasn't uncommon for at least one person to be entirely through their first helping of food before prayers took place.  The only exception to this rule is the baby.  I usually have a small dish that I put his food in to cool and be cut up prior to prayers, but I still wait until after prayers to give the food to him.

We also serve youngest to oldest, with any guests we have over being the first to be served.  Our thoughts here are that the olders are better able to patiently wait for their food.  Each child passes his plate down to Daddy, who fills the plate (with Mommy's help), and passes it back.  It's a fairly quick and painless process.  Second helpings work the same way.

8.  Enjoy your family.
Don't scarf the food down and run off to the next project.  Look your family in the eye.  Engage them in conversation.  Enjoy them.  This is hard for moms-on-the-go.  Especially for those of us who really like to check things off our lists...dinner...check...on to the next thing.  So many Americans lament the fact that they have very little opportunity to eat meals as a family.  If you are able to enjoy a sit down meal with your family, don't squander that time by mindlessly eating while you daydream about your to-do list.  Savor your family mealtimes.  They will be beautiful memories someday.

So, there's my little tutorial!  Now, GO SIT DOWN, MAMA and ENJOY YOUR MEAL!

(Linked to Finer Things Friday.)

Beginnings

There are bits of cucumber and tomato that never quite make it into the salad. The kitchen floor is lightly dusted with flour. She's asked about a million times if she can lick the spoon and I'm pretty sure she did when I wasn't looking. She is four and she is standing on a stool next to me, eager to do the very things I tire of doing day in and day out.

You see, the kitchen is a difficult place for me. I've even gone so far as to call it the "bane of my existence." It is a needy, never-ending mess of pots and pans and last night's dinner. In fact, I'd rather be anywhere other than my kitchen.

Yet, despite its blatant lack of counter space and 50 year old appliances that won't break so I can get new ones, it holds a certain charm to my little daughter. She is a M.I.T. (Mommy In Training) and she knows the kitchen is Mommy's domain.

So how is it the one room in the house that is almost entirely mine happens to be the one room I dislike the most?

I've toyed with the idea of sprucing it up with paint and pictures, adding touches of fancy to make it more pleasing to the eye, but deep down I know aesthetics aren't the issue. It's attitude. Mine, to be exact.

When I look at the kitchen I see messes to be cleaned. When my daughter looks at the kitchen she sees an amazing place where individual foods become an entire meal right before her eyes.

I see the end, she sees the beginning.

It would do me good to adopt her view of things. Instead of seeing a scummy blender, I should see the blessing of not having to bother with cleaning it before making smoothies in the morning. Instead of seeing a dirty skillet, I should see the potential of a clean skillet for browning meat for tomorrow's lunch. Instead of seeing a cluttered countertop, I should see a stunning (albeit small) workspace for rolling out a pie for company this weekend. I should see the beginnings rather than the ends.

In fact, I should see a wonderful beginning when my daughter crawls up next to me on that little kitchen stool. What she learns from me is the beginning of her journey to womanhood. Every time she stirs the batter, shreds the lettuce, or salts the meat, she is learning. She is also learning when she sees me sigh at the mess before me or when I slam a cabinet door in frustration or when I am short with her because I just don't have the time to play a round of 20 Questions. Is that the beginning I want for her?

The only thing I have with my children are beginnings. What is sown today will take years to bring to fruition. In fact, I may never know the full impact of the beginnings I share with my children.

So, what matters here and now is that I take my life's calling as wife and mother seriously; that I set about diligently to be someone worth emulating; that I remember all my daily tasks are to be done as unto the Lord. I have to stop fussing and fretting over the ends of things and start preparing for the beginnings. And when my little daughter slides that stool across the floor and climbs up next to me, I should see things from her perspective...a beautiful beginning.

This Post was featured At the Well:

Apple Pudding Cake & Other Fun Stuff

Here's another yummy autumn recipe I thought you'd enjoy called Apple Pudding Cake.

1/4 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
dash of salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 c. flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c. milk
2 c. chopped apples
1/2 c. dried fruit or nuts or both

Mix butter and sugar well. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into a greased medium-sized pan (9x13 is probably a bit too big, but could be done if you don't mind a thinner cake) Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. Dish into bowls, curl up with a blanket and a good book and enjoy bliss by the spoonful!



I also wanted to share a few fun things that go right along with this recipe...

First off are these awesome little silicone grippers from Trudeau.
They are fantastic for using with baking stones. But as you can see, they work well with casserole dishes too.



Next is something that has made me feel better about not being able to purchase all organic fruits and veggies...Veggie Wash! I purchased the apples for this recipe from Aldi and boy were they nice and shiny! (LOL) Using the Veggie Wash, I could literally feel the wax coming off the apples! It took two washes to remove the wax fully, but boy did it make me feel better knowing my apples were clean!
And finally, a fun little Fall giveaway over at Every Precious Joy! Click HERE to enter to win her handmade, original design dishcloths! She does gorgeous work and you'll love these Autumn themed dishcloths! Tell her I sent you!

Boys in the Kitchen

Once, long ago, I questioned an older mom about whether boys should learn "women's work." Thankfully, she did not scoff or chide me! Her answer was simple and true...

Shouldn't a man know how to cook for himself and sew for himself and clean for himself? What if the Lord does not bring him a wife for many years...or forever? Will mother or sisters always be there to do these things for him? Of course not.
 

Since then, I have never once questioned myself as I give my son full rein in the kitchen.

Today, I want to share with you a moment that truly blessed my mother's heart...

A short time ago, my friend Sarah and her children came to visit. Sarah's husband was in the city on business and was planning to join us that evening for supper at our home. Prior to her family arriving, my son decided he wanted to cook the evening meal for us!

My initial thought was how he might mess it up with all those extra people there. But, I decided this would be a forgiving crowd should that happen and hey, we live in the city...pizza is around the corner! So, with my blessing, he began diligently planning the meal.

He decided to ask Sarah's son to pitch in and he eagerly agreed.



They were dicing and chopping fools!

Blake had planned a taco lasagna (doubled since he would be feeding 10 people!) and sweet cornbread:

TACO LASAGNA
1# ground beef
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
1/2 c. chopped onion
2/3 c. water
1 env taco seasoning
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can Mexican diced tomatoes, undrained
6 8" flour tortillas
1 can refried beans
3 c. shredded Mexican cheese blend

In a large skillet, cook the beef, green peppers, and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add water and taco seasoning; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 2 minutes. Stir in the black beans and tomatoes. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Place 2 tortillas in a greased 9x13" baking dish. Spread with half of the refried beans and beef mixture; sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining tortillas and cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

SWEET CORN BREAD
1 box jiffy corn bread
1 box jiffy yellow cake mix

Prepare each as directed and then combine. Pour into a 9" square baking dish. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

The girls (my 8 year old daughter and Sarah's 9 year old daughter) wanted to pitch in, so they made the cornbread while the boys worked hard on the taco lasagna.



The entire time they cooked, Sarah and I scrapbooked and chit-chatted. It was such a blessing to have that time with her and not have to worry about cooking!

And then the moment of truth arrived...



They did it! It was a lovely and yummy meal cooked entirely by children ages 12 and under!

So, yes, boys should learn to cook and children can cook very tasty meals all by themselves...you just have to let them!

Here's a quick pic of another blessing that day...



The two cornbread girls caring for their littlest siblings! So sweet!