Do-It-Yourself: Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

I'm always looking for ways to cut our grocery budget and doing things myself significantly helps in that area.  So with three little ones, the next area I wanted to tackle was the dishwasher.  It seems like an unrelated area, but I'm continually amazed why how many bowls and spoons we can go through in a typical day.  And now bottles?  Wow!

I had read several times that you could make your own dishwasher detergent, but until recently we had an older model dishwasher and I was afraid to try it.  When we got a new one last fall, I determined we'd give it a try.  So my DIY Project for Jan was this detergent.  And it's so simple.  Especially since it uses the same ingredients as my Homemade Laundry Soap.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent
1 c. Washing Soda
1 c. Borax

Just mix together and store in an old yogurt container.

You can also use vinegar in your rinse compartment to reduce cloudy residue.  I haven't had a problem with the residue, but as I said, this is a new experiment for us so I may notice it later.

There you have it: super easy and super economical.  Hope you give it a try!

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Monday Muddle

Hey Everyone,

How was your week?  What did you do?

Ours was full.  I guess you can't have three kids and not have a full life.  Volunteering in a second grade classroom, teaching letters to my preschooler, bonding with a 4 month old, and generally trying to be on time for appointments and failing miserably.  I don't think I'll ever be on time again.

Saturday was crazy.  The kids came down and helped clean the church before my hubby took Noah on the homeless outreach.  It's fun to hear how a six year old interprets reaching out to the homeless.  Everything is so mellow in Noah's world, but I can tell he's processing all the time.  Lydia had a birthday party that afternoon and we did family movie night.  Have you watched those old Disney movies with your kids yet?  We checked out Gus from the library for the second time and my kids love it!  They laugh constantly.

Sunday was normal, thankfully.  Homework, grocery shopping, church... normal family life.  I can handle that kind of crazy a lot better than being out of the house all the time.  The kids are growing up and sometimes it just feels like life is getting in the way of just being together.  Or it could be the fact that they take life at 100 mph.

I was reminded this week that I have to be more intentional with my preschooler.  She's the only girl, the quietest, and gets lost in the shuffle if I don't take special notice.  So I did a little planning last night and am going to try to do a specific activity with her each day.  So hard to believe she's already four.  And then again, when she opens her mouth, it's hard to believe she's only four.

So that's what's going on at our house.  What's going on in your world?

Breakfasts:
Oatmeal and fruit
Cold cereal
Frozen Waffles
Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Lunches:
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches
Salad in a Jar
Quesadillas
Cucumber Wraps
Carrot sticks, string cheese, fruit

Dinners:
Monday: Pasta e fagoli, french bread
Tuesday: Date Night
Wednesday: Lentil Tacos
Thursday: Crockpot Orange Chicken, brown rice
Friday: Staff Meeting
Saturday: Homemade Pizza
Sunday: Hamburgers, Avocado Lime Pasta Salad

Extras:
Nutter Butter Truffle Cupcakes

Projects I'm working on this week:
Finish review book
Scrap t-ball photos
Work on Family Values Canvas

Posts coming up this week:
DIY Experiment--Homemade Dishwasher Detergent
Meal Planning 101: Lunches and Breakfasts
While You're Waiting
Valentine's Ideas

Lee's To Do List

I'm changing the Resources I'm Currently Lovin' section on the sidebar.  So again, bookmarking those resources here for future reference.  Enjoy!

Family Tree Decorative Pillow

Grandma's Apple Pie in a Jar

Poinsetta Embellished T-Shirt

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Tea Light Wall Art

Bookmarks for January 2012

*Bookmarks is an online book club hosted at Creative2xmom.  Here we discuss the books we've read in the past month as well as the suggested reading.  Our suggested reading for January is When God's Story becomes Your Story by Max Lucado.

These are the books I read this month:

Love Lifted Me by Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck--I read this one to review for Booksneeze.  You can find my review here.

Attachment Focused Parenting by Daniel A Hughes--Although recommended in our foster care classes, I felt this book would also be a great resource for my relationship with my 6 year old birth child.  Attachment Focused Parenting highlights a type of communication and parenting that is very contrary to my own style.  I found myself challenged and ruffled throughout most of the book, but came away with some great tools to try.  As my son is getting older, our relationship is being challenged by many outside forces and this book gave me some ideas for opening communication.  The greatest gift I got from this book is remembering to be curious about my children.  Rather than communication always being directive, more and more dialogue needs to look like questioning in an effort to help my kids understand their own motives for behavior and mommy's motives for direction.

God's Story, Your Story by Max Lucado--This book was our "suggested reading" for January and luckily I was able to get the Kindle version of this one for free on Amazon awhile back.  The chapter titles of this book really got me:

When God's Story becomes Yours...

• Ordinary Matters
• You know Satan's next move
• You find your true home
• You hear a voice you can trust
• You won't be forsaken
• Your final chapter becomes a preface
• Power moves in
• The right doors open
• All things work for good
• God will come for you
• You will finally graduate

Written in classic Lucado style, this book was a powerful but easy read told through stories.  I read through it relatively quickly, but could easily chew on each chapter again.  About 2/3 of the way through the book, Lucado hit me with this thought:

"Learn to wait, to be silent, to listen for his voice.  Cherish stillness; sensitize yourself to his touch... You don't need to hurry or scurry.  The Spirit-led life does not panic; it trusts."

So true in today's society.  How comfortable are we with silence and waiting?

So what are your bookmarks this month?

Tell us in the comments about the books you're chewing on.  Or link up a review from your own blog.  Let's share the books we're finding, good and bad.  And give us your thoughts if you've had a chance to read Lucado's When God's Story becomes Your Story.

And come back Friday Feb 24rd as we discuss Made to Crave by Lysa Turkerst and others that you're reading.

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Meal Planning 101: Matching it up with the Calendar

So you've seen why meal planning is important and you've come up with your themes and meal options, now what?  Why not throw the plans into a rotation and run with it?  You can absolutely do that.  And there are many times in our lives where I do exactly that.  But before you throw a plan into the week, it's important to look at your weekly schedule and see what's coming your way.

Matching it up with the Calendar

We all have routines in our week.  In our house, everything seems to fall on Mondays: two gymnastics classes, volunteering at the school, Discipleship Group.  Mondays have to work like a well-oiled machine or Mama falls into a panic.

But beyond our weekly routines, there are also the occasional gliches.  Soccer practice in the fall, a friend that needs help moving, a special date night.  That's why it's important to look at your weekly schedule before setting that meal plan into motion.

Take this week for example at our house.  Monday is my crazy day so it's always a quick and easy meal night.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are crockpot night as I'm coming home from the gym, but this week I have a girls night out.  So I know I have to plan ahead for Daddy to make the meal on Thursday.  We're going to a friend's house on Friday so I'm planning extra special sides and dessert for that night, rather than our traditional pizza night.  And the rest of the week looks similarly out of place.

Matching your meal plan with your calendar further prevents those nights of drive-thru on the way to an evening activity.  Don't drive yourself crazy with a new recipe on the same night you're leaving the kids with a sitter to catch a movie with your husband.  You'll just find yourself frustrated with time constraints.  Make your plan work for you and your life, even if it means switching things up a bit now and then.

How are you making meal planning work into your life?

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