Not Bleach

The wonders of non bleach cleaning are amazing!

Unfortunately I did not take a before picture, but I can assure you that it was in desperate need of cleaning.
How did I do it? Well, I already use a hydrogen peroxide and lemon juice concoction as a bleach alternative in the laundry, so I just added a cup of vinegar to my normal mix. Then I just put the stopper in the sink and let it soak. After it was done, I used half a lemon and some coarse salt to scrub it clean.
Voilá! Clean sink. Note, though, that I do not recommend this combination for the laundry. Adding vinegar boosts the sanitizing power such that it will irritate the skin.

Recipe:
2 c. Hydrogen peroxide 3/4 c. Lemon juice 1 c. vinegar

The basic ratio is 1/3 c. lemon juice to 1 c. hydrogen peroxide. Increase as needed to fill sink.

Animal Crackers with My Soup

Yes, that was a reference to Shirley Temple...

I have started making crackers following this recipe courtesy of Emma Christiansen @ The Kitchn.

How to Make Crackers at Home
Makes about 100 crackers

What You Need
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour, or a mix of all-purpose and whole grain flours
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup water
Optional topping: 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, 1 tablespoon poppy seeds, 1 teaspoon sea salt

Equipment
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups and spoons
Sturdy spoon or spatula
Rolling pin
Pastry brush
Pizza cutter or sharp knife
Baking sheet
Dinner fork

Instructions
Heat the oven to 450°F: Place a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat to 450°F. Sprinkle a baking sheet lightly with flour and set aside.
Mix together the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.
Add the oil and water: Add the oil and water to the flour mixture. Stir until a soft, sticky dough is formed. If a lot of loose flour remains in the bottom of the bowl and the surface of the dough, add more water a tablespoon at a time until all the flour is incorporated.
Divide and shape the dough into a square: Divide the dough into two halves and set one half aside. Sprinkle your work surface lightly with flour and set the other half on top. Pat it into a thick square with your hands.
Roll out the dough: Working from the center of the dough out, roll the dough into a rectangle roughly 1/8-inch thick or thinner. If the dough starts to shrink back as you roll it, let it rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes and then continue rolling.
Sprinkle dough with topping (optional): Brush the surface of the dough very lightly with water. Combine the seeds in a small bowl and sprinkle half of them (roughly 1 1/2 tablespoons) evenly over the surface of the dough. See Additional Notes below for additional ideas for toppings and flavorings.
Cut the dough into cracker-sized rectangles: Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut the dough into individual crackers roughly 1-inch by 2-inches. Alternatively, cut the crackers into squares, diamonds, or use cookie cutters.
Transfer crackers to baking sheet and prick with fork: Transfer the crackers to the baking sheet using a metal dough scraper or spatula. It's fine to crowd the crackers very close to each other. Prick each cracker with the tines of a fork to prevent them from puffing during baking.
Bake for 12-15 minutes: Bake the crackers in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until the edges are browned. Thinner crackers will bake more quickly than thicker ones; you can remove the crackers as they brown to your liking and continue baking the rest. While the first batch of crackers is baking, roll out and cut the remaining dough.
Cool and store the crackers: Transfer the baked crackers to a wire rack to cool completely. The crackers will crisp further as they cool. Store the crackers in an airtight container on the counter for 3-5 days. If you're crackers are a little old and less-than-crispy, lay them on a baking sheet and put them in a 350°F oven for a few minutes to re-crisp.

Making crackers is surprisingly easy and I get to make fun unusual shapes like whales, hearts, flowers, shells, fish, and dolphins. Since having the kids, I've decided to try to feed them as healthy as possible. I just make a batch of dough and keep it in the refrigerator. Then I roll it out as needed. I also use other flours besides wheat because I can.
We just happened to renew our Costco membership on the day they had a Vitamix demonstration. So, we got the dry container for grinding grains at 30% or 40% off.

Gourmet Monkey's momma

monkey's mama's crock pot greek yogurt
Thanks to Jillee for posting her adaptation of the recipe here. Making yogurt myself sure beats paying the $1 per half cup it costs on sale for Greek yogurt. Like pita bread, it's surprisingly easy to make and doesn't take too much hands on involvement, hence the crock pot.
My first batch came out alright but for my second, I think I'll leave it to curdle longer.

Purposefully Re-purposing: A Cloth Wipes Tutorial

I apologize in advance for the formatting. I just couldn't seem to get it to do what I wanted it to.

Latest sewing project

Finished wipes in hand-made, Eco-conscious packaging

Momma M asked me to make some more cloth wipes for her out of old Strawberry Shortcake receiving blankets. Total Sewing time: roughly 2.5 hours.
It took me one evening of cutting out the squares for the wipes. Then there was an hour that I had to spend re- threading my Serger. Finally, the actual sewing time was about an hour and a half.
It's actually very therapeutic to sew. The machine provides white noise that is relaxing. There is the thought that I am actually creating something useful. At the very least, my mindless activity produces something to show for the time spent doing it, rather than TV. I think watching it actually leaves me more stressed out because I think about all the things I should be doing instead.

 Lines marked

Cloth Wipes Mini Tutorial

Materials:

Serger with thread
Small Scissors
Fabric marking pen
Rotary cutter and mat
18 " clear ruler with grid
8.5" Quilting square with grid (optional)
Old flannel (in this case receiving blankets)

8" x 8" grid and marked material

Rotary Cutter and Ruler

1. Lay out material and mark as many full 8"x 8" squares as will fit on your fabric using ruler and quilting square. (left)
2. Once squares are marked, use rotary cutter and mat (or scissors) to cut out material.
3. Cut out squares using rotary cutter and ruler (or Scissors) on marked lines. (right)
4. Serge (or sew). around edges to finish. (below right)
5. Present cloth wipes to recipient, in my case Momma M.(top of page)

Stacked cut Squares

Serging the edge (close-up)

Serger and finished wipes

My Hot Little (Bread) Buns

The comic idea is courtesy of the Advanced Teacher Challenge at Edublogs. I thought it would be more interesting to tell you about a mundane topic in this way.

I only recently figured out the bread maker I got. Since I am more interested in making healthy bread, there was, of course the learning curve. I ruined about 3 loaves before I just decided to start out with plain old white bead (yuck!). I never have been a fan of white bread.

Of course when I got to Target, they only had one model and one left of that model. Yeah for choice! The thing is huge, but then, I like tiny Japanese stuff. Literally the Zojirushi model I wanted (still do) is half the size at twice the price. If this one ever breaks, I'm getting the Zojirushi!

As far as the being eco-friendly goes, I make my own bread so I don't need to buy packaged stuff from the store. I also do my own pizza dough, and the title of the post comes from my hankering to do artisan-y breads. I did a braid and little buns (cute and tiny, I sense a theme...).

The way I save money with this is to buy the ingredients in bulk. I go to Sprouts and measure out only what I need and pay less per unit for it.

Having all sorts of individualized appliances makes for a bit of clutter, but in these times, who has time to make bread from scratch? I stay at home, but I think I like using the computer better than kneading bread. How do you do your baking? I'd love to hear what you use and maybe a favorite recipe. Please, take a minute to share a comment for this post.

Latest project: wetbag.

Munchkin wetbag after 2 months of use

So I got Babyville PUL material from Joanns and am planning to make a wetbag because the one I got at Target malfunctioned within a month of when I bought it. It is supposed to snap down into a little square, but the snap promptly came off. So, instead of buying another one, I will make my own; it's part of being eco-friendly/ thrifty.
I bought the 3 pack of PUL since I didn't want to invest the $15 dollars it costs by the yard without a plan for what I wanted to make. One side will be the yellow and the other, duckies. I figure any folding or cutting will make the bag too small when finished. I plan to make the bag similar to the one I bought. It is pretty easy to make. I want to put a strap on it just like on the store version. I also want it to snap in 2 places, so figuring that out will be fun, too.

Steps:

If my material was not already pre-cut, I would decide how big I wanted the final product and cut my material. At $15/yd definitely measure twice, cut once!

1. sew in zipper and snap strap (all in the same seam)
2. apply snaps, make sure to reinforce
3. turn bag inside out and sew seams. Note: I don't want any unnecessary leaks so I am finishing my seams.
   
4. Babyville recommends tossing finished products in the dryer (20 min on high) to seal the holes made by needles, pins etc.
   

Since this project is taking a lot longer than I expected, I think I will just post a tutorial on a separate page. The project is currently pinned and awaiting my already over-taxed attention.

Have child, will work (or sew).

So now I have a child, and one of the hardest things is finding childcare at a rate that I can afford. It seems I need child care to work, but I need to work to have childcare. It's an unavoidable catch 22. On a happier note, I now fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes, aside from my rather large, child-nourishing bosom. Back to my dilemna... I now find that I have a little more time to complete tasks like making diaper pail liners to avoid buying the over-priced ones from the local eco-friendly baby boutique. (not pictured) For less than the price of one of their liners, I made two myself in about 4 hours.

Cloth wipe edge

Cloth wipe

My first  baby project was to make my own wipes. I made a couple with double thickness, but that was before I got the serger. I thought it took too long, so I decided to make them single thickness with finished edges so they didn't fray. So far, they are holding up despite being washed every other day.

Small Wetbag I made for a friend

Wetbag inside

After that, I decided to teach a friend how to use her sewing machine so that she could make her own wipes. Her daughter is sensitive to the commercial wipes, and since I have very few problems with my method, I decided to share. I ended up making this wetbag for her out of a cheap shower curtain, plastic, velcro, duct tape, and staples. Not bad, probably not the most sturdy thing, but not bad.

Homemade soaker back

Homemade soaker front

Finally, I use pre-folds a lot because they are a cheaper option than the pocket diapers and fancy AIOs that I would really like to have. However, they are limited in their ability to soak and soak and soak. I decided to double the soaking power with some soakers that I made. I took a microfiber cloth (think window cleaning), cut it in thirds, and sandwiched it between flannel (printed) on the top and fleece on the bottom. 

After realizing that I really have no extra money to afford things like cutesy diaper pail liners, I am reminded why I decided to go uber eco-friendly myself and cloth diaper my little bundle of joy. At first, I thought that I would enjoy the diaper service experience, but it turns out that they were not as helpful as I thought. I am now laundering the diapers myself. In addition, I decided to just make my own cloth wipes, soakers, etc. It really does save money, and I know exactly what goes into the skin-friendly liquid that gets sprayed on them. So, I have managed to save at least $72 , so far, by not buying the Earth's Best disposable wipes I was buying. I even still have one package shy of a 480 count box sitting in my baby's closet since I decided to make and wash my own. People think that it is so much work, but they don't realize that it just boils down to laundry.

My point is that by going eco friendly in the diapering department, I have managed to avoid the need to purchase overpriced baby products simply for the sake of convenience, which is especially helpful since I can barely afford to pay someone to babysit my child so that I can work.