Sourdough Starter

Well, since we are all quarantined for the next month or so, I figured "hey, I'll go back to that blog that I forgot about ages ago!" (Yeah, sorry about disappearing for about 7 years.... life got... busy).

With all of the extra time I have from NOT running kids to and from school, music lessons, social activities, theater, etc. right now, I have been spending a LOT of time in the kitchen. Plus, by making things from scratch (like I used to), I can avoid the germ filled store AND teach my kids some much needed life skills. (Not that I didn't teach them useful things before.... we just have WAY MORE time to spend doing it now).

Where to start...

Thanks to my love of baking, I always have flour on hand, so the HOARDING that people are doing didn't affect me in that sense. (I AM running dangerously low on TP, though, so hopefully the stores get stocked up soon.... or I will be writing a VERY different blog entry in a few weeks).

Back to baking...

We have been baking banana bread like CRAZY, as well as my famous Cinnamon Swirl Bread (I will write those posts separately for you later). We have also been baking my Everyday Bread and my favorite 5 Minute Bread often. I have ALWAYS wanted to make my own Sourdough Starter from scratch, but it's kind of intimidating! Having to feed it daily, or more, and keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesn't get contaminated. My schedule has been a little to crazy to commit to such a project. 

Not Any More! Time to give it a go!

I did a bit of research, since there are many opinions on the RIGHT way to make a starter. After comparing about a dozen blogs, recipes, and websites, I narrowed it down to the advice from King Arthur Flour. I mean, they do MAKE flour and all, so they probably know what they are talking about. Also, their website was much easier to follow than many others. I suggest you go there and check it out! They also have recipes for using the starter once you get that far! (AND they have recipes for using the discarded starter.... you will know what I am talking about soon.)

Here's the basic gist of how to make your own sourdough starter!

Day 1: Mix 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water. 

            Cover and let sit for 24 hours at 70 degrees.

-Whole wheat flour is more likely to have natural yeast in it.

-You can use tap water as long as you can't smell any chemicals. Otherwise, use filtered water.

-You can cover it with a tea towel or loose plastic. I used one of those elastic plastic covers (like a shower cap). See picture below.

-The BEST place to keep your starter is in the oven with the LIGHT on. JUST THE LIT BULB makes it nice and warm and helps the yeast become active. Don't turn the oven on... you will cook your yeast.

Day 2: Remove 1/2 cup of starter and discard it 

           (or use in one of the "discard" recipes on the King Arthur Flour website... I made crackers).

           Add 1 cup ALL PURPOSE flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water.

           Cover and let sit for 24 hours at 70 degrees.

           This is my starter after Day 2 feeding and resting in the oven for 12 hours...

Day 3: Keep ONLY 4 oz (1/2 cup) of starter and remove/discard the rest (or make something with it!)

            Add 1 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 cup water.

            Cover and let sit 12 hours.

            Keep 4 oz and remove the rest, and add another 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup water.

            As you can see, you feed TWICE a day for day 3, 4, and 5!

Day 4: REPEAT Day 3 (feed twice, 12 hours apart)

Day 5: REPEAT Day 4 (feed twice, 12 hours apart)

After Day 5, if your starter is nice and bubbly, it is ready! 

(if it is not bubbly yet, continue for a few more days. Cold weather can take longer)

To USE your starter, first feed it and let it sit for 6-8 hours (yes, you discard all but 4 oz again)

Remove what you need for the recipe (no more than 1 cup) and feed remaining 4 oz starter again, letting it rest at room temperature for a few hours to activate. After it rests this time, keep this remaining starter in a jar or other covered container in the fridge (loosely covered), feeding it once a week and using as needed.

     

Good Luck! 

Blackberry Milkshakes

Blackberry bushes are a real pain. Literally! 

Every time I try to cut them back I am left with scrapes and scratches all over my arms and legs. Ouch!

Living where we do, we've got berry bushes popping up EVERYWHERE. It's a full time job just to keep them from taking over. This year, I noticed a ton of flowers on one set of bushes, so I decided to let them go for the summer before cutting them back. Boy was I rewarded! Every week my kids and I have been able to pick a large tub of big, sweet, juicy berries. For free! (Actually, I've decided that they are probably being watered by the leak in our pool, so I'm really paying to water them...... but it feels like free. Haha!)

 You can't really tell from this picture, but this is more than 5 cups of berries! This would cost about 20 bucks at the store!

We've been eating some of the berries straight off the vine, but I've been freezing most of them to use over the winter. I've also made peach blackberry crisp (SO YUMMY) and blackberry bran muffins (they were a little too dense so I need to tweak the recipe a little). And last night, we made blackberry milkshakes! Wow, were they delicious!

Aren't they a beautiful shade of purple? You'd think I added food coloring to get this color!

They were super easy to make, too. Put a few scoops of vanilla ice cream in your blender. Add a few handfuls of berries and some milk (a little at a time until you get a good consistency). That's it! I don't really like fruity ice cream, so I was surprised at how delicious they were. I will be making these again before blackberry season is over!

Toy Hammock

I'm not sure why, but where there are kids, there is bound to be a stuffed animal (or 10) nearby. When you have a baby, people start buying them for you. And then your kids get older and they start ASKING for them on their birthdays and holidays.......leading to stuffed animal overload.

I have three kids. And that mean I have about a thousand stuffed animals in the house. (Ok, maybe not REALLY a thousand, but it sure feels that way).

I don't really mind that they want their little cuddly things, but I am SO tired of constantly picking them up and trying to find somewhere to keep them. If you put them in the toy box, you run out of room for actual TOYS in there. If you keep them on the bed, you have to move them every night and put them back every morning. Too much work for an already over worked mom, if you ask me. 

I know that there are those triangular netting-type things to hang in the corner of the room to store all the stuffed animals in......but if you ask me, they are kind of cheap looking and are bound to break in no time. Besides, they look kind of dorky. 

But I'm desperate. 

And also being frugal (Ok, cheap) I start thinking of how I could MAKE some hammocky-thingy to hang in their room that wouldn't look so bad. I must be able to use something I have already...... Fabric? Not stretchy enough. Oh, YARN! And thanks to the internet, a few clicks lead me to this forum which had a pattern in one of the responses. I added about 10 rows because I didn't feel like it was big enough, but otherwise made it according to the pattern listed.

All loaded up.... whoops! I was so excited to try it that I forgot to weave in the strings....

After loading up the hammock, I realized that one was not going to be enough to hold all of the cuddly animals. AND, now my son needs one for his room too. It's a good thing it's an easy pattern. Off I go to make another one.....

TOY HAMMOCK
7oz worsted weight yarn
size H crochet hook

ch 9, sl st in first st to make a circle. DO NOT TURN.
Row 1: ch 7, sc in circle, ch 5, dc in circle. TURN.
Row 2: ch 7, sc in first loop, ch 5, sc in next loop, ch 5, dc in same loop. TURN.
Row 3: ch 7, sc in first loop, ch 5, sc in next loop (repeat to end), ch 5, dc in last loop (this will be your second stitch in the last loop). TURN
REPEAT Row 3 for Rows 4-41 (or more if you would like to make your hammock bigger).
Last Row: ch 5, sc in first loop, ch 3, sc in next loop (repeat to end), ch 5, dc in last loop.
Fasten off and weave in ends.

Hang with hooks in the corner of the room at your desired height and load up with stuffies! Yay! No more teddy bears on the floor!

Clearing the Kitchen Sink Clog

As a person who likes to do everything myself, I never thought I would be doing plumbing. My husband is very good with all of the construction and maintenance of the house, and does most of it with me as a mere assistant to "hold the light here" and "get me a wrench" and "QUICK, turn off the water!" Needless to say, I haven't had to actually DO any plumbing myself. But I have watched him do a lot of different things. And that's a good thing, because now I know I CAN do basic plumbing if the need should arise. Again. 

Since we moved in our house (a year and a half ago) one of our kitchen sink drains (there are separate drains for each side of sink) has never drained well. I usually just try to avoid that side, but I finally got fed up with it. I decided to play plumber today and I took off the trap to see if there was a clog. The "trap" is the U-shaped pipe under your sink, for those of you who don't know). I cleaned out lots of gunk..... but not enough gunk to stop the water from flowing. So I decided to check the pipe that goes from the trap to the wall. OH. MY. GOSH!!!! I'm sure this thing has been clogged for YEARS. And let's just say it's a good thing I don't have a sensitive gag reflex! Seriously! That clog covered 95% of the pipe opening...... 

and this clog went ALL THE WAY TO THE WALL! More that 18 inches of solid blockage!!! How do you even CLOG a pipe like that??? One of the grossest things I have seen. Ever. (This picture doesn't do it justice... and it got even worse as I dug deeper and deeper into the pipe). But after a half an hour of digging and scraping with various tools (except for the actual pipe snake which I am afraid to use and will let my hubby do later) the pipe was as clear as it was going to get.

 I was trying to save Danny a job.... which I did. Sort of. While examining the pipe, I found that it is rusted almost all the way through and needs replacing (to avoid a WAY bigger disaster). So, add another job to HIS list, because I am not THAT savvy with the plumbing. LOL! But at least, for now, the water flows without pooling up in the sink..... Yay me! :-)

Coke in the Toilet

I like my toilets to be clean. (I think everyone does.) In fact, even though I don't use a lot of chemicals to clean my house, the toilets are a place that I'm not afraid to use bleach. I want to know that they are REALLY clean. You know what I mean?

With three little kids, it is extra important to keep the germs away. 

When we bought our house, the whole place was nasty. The first thing I did was scrub the bathrooms. I mean, I REALLY scrubbed them. With bleach. 

All of the main bathrooms got clean, but there was one stubborn toilet in the basement that just didn't want to cooperate. I knew it was disinfected, but it just wasn't clean. It's not a bathroom we use often (it's in a room that is being renovated), so I wasn't that worried about it. But over the past few months it has started to bug me. No matter how much I scrubbed, it still looked dirty! I knew there must be a way to get rid of the rust and hard water stains (without spending a lot of money or using crazy harsh chemicals).

While looking for recipes for homemade bathroom cleaners, I came across this post HERE. Coke in your toilet? What?!?

Of course I HAD to give it a try. I mean, what did I have to lose? I didn't have any Coke, but I did have some Diet Dr Pepper. I've seen what Diet Dr Pepper can do with a Mentos....... and to a penny..... so I was confident that it would work as well as a Coke. 

Here is the before picture. I cleaned this toilet. I swear. That discoloration is from the rust stains. Eww.

I dumped a can of Dr Pepper in the bowl, and then dumped another one in just to be sure there was enough soda to do the work. (The website linked above used a 2-liter, so I probably should have used more, but this is all I had.)

Toilet looks even nastier with the soda in it. Bleh.

I let the soda sit for 30 minutes and then gave it a quick scrub with a toilet brush. One flush later and WOW!

Ok, now THAT is clean. Yay! (There is still one tiny ring of rust around the top of the water line, but overall I would consider this a success. I might try again with a 2-liter of actual Coke, just to see.)

Kinda makes you wonder what soda does to your insides.......

Homemade Bathroom Cleaners

There is really only one thing that I hate more than cleaning the bathroom: Washing Dishes. 

And since there was a nice big pile of dirty pots and pans in the sink from my canning project yesterday, I thought today would be the perfect day to clean the bathrooms (and then spend more time blogging about it). The dishes will still be there later, right? The unfortunate answer to that question is always "yes." 

Off I headed to the FOUR bathrooms in the house to scrub and clean. My usual weekly regimen is to just wipe down everything with a disinfectant wipe and scrub the toilet with bleach. But, since it's been at least a week since I really scrubbed them down (ok, more like three weeks...... don't judge me), I decided to do a really good job. Besides, I have this really big pile of dishes waiting for me, so the longer it takes to clean the bathrooms, the better. 

I've been learning all about the natural germ killers, like vinegar, so I've been trying to use less and less commercial cleaners.

According to Wikipedia, 
"Vineagar is reputed to have strong antibacterial properties. One test by Good Housekeeping's microbiologist found that 5% vinegar is 90% effective against mold and 99.9% effective against bacteria,^[48]" 

I make a cleaner that I use for just about everything. (See original post HERE ) 

All Purpose Cleaner
16 oz spray bottle
add 2 Tbsp vinegar, 1 tsp Borax, and some warm water
swirl until borax is dissolved
add a few drops of dish soap (Dawn)
fill the bottle with warm water

(I use a 32 oz bottle from an old cleaner that I had, so I just double the recipe. You can adjust for the size spray bottle you have).

Nice fancy label, right?

I even made my own Orange Infused Vinegar to add the cleaning power of orange oil to the concoction. 

Orange oil "is also an effective, environmentally friendly, and relatively safe solvent, which makes it an active ingredient of choice in many applications, such as, but not limited to, adhesive and stain removers, cleaners of various sorts, and strippers."  Wikipedia.

Orange Vinegar
Collect orange peels and allow them to air dry (toss any that grow mold)
Break up the orange peels and put them in a jar
Fill jar with vinegar
Seal jar and set aside for 2 weeks
Strain orange peels out and keep sealed in a dark location

 I use this spray to clean countertops, showers, and the floor. So far I've been really happy with it. I ran out of it today, so my 4 year old daughter helped me make some more (she loves to stir and mix things). 

Before I knew it, the bathrooms were clean. I couldn't stop there, though, because I needed to put off the dishes for just a bit longer.

I'm always on the lookout for new cleaning recipes to try, and I've been looking for a new disinfectant spray. I came across a recipe for a thyme based disinfectant. (See original post HERE)  

"Oil of thyme, the essential oil of common thyme (Thymus vulgaris), contains 20-54% thymol.^[5] Thyme essential oil also contains a range of additional compounds, such as p-Cymene, myrcene, borneol and linalool.^[6] Thymol, anantiseptic, is the main active ingredient in various commercially produced mouthwashes such as Listerine.^[7] Before the advent of modern antibiotics, oil of thyme was used to medicate bandages.^[1] Thymol has also been shown to be effective against various fungi that commonly infect toenails.^[8] Thymol can also be found as the active ingredient in some all-natural, alcohol-free hand sanitizers." Wikipedia.

Since I have a TON of thyme in my garden, it was really easy and cheap to whip up. 

Thyme Disinfectant
Boil 5 sprigs of thyme in 2 cups of water
Turn off heat and cover, allowing the thyme to soak in hot water for 30 minutes.
Pour in a spray bottle and add 1/4 cup Borax (shake to dissolve).

How much is a sprig? I don't really know... I just grabbed a bunch. More is better when it comes to disinfecting power (in my opinion).

How easy is THAT? And is smells really nice too. 

So, my bathrooms are clean and I have a new disinfectant spray to try. These cleaners are so easy to make and do such a good job, that I still have enough time to do all of my dishes before picking up my son at school. 

Darn it!

Flip Flop Fix

The other day I bought a pair of cheap flip flops from Walmart for my 2 year old. You know, the kind with the elastic strap on the back. I knew that, for 2 bucks, they weren't going to be great. But I was just hoping they would get us through the rest of the summer. 


Right away there was a problem. They had connected the elastic with big plastic "clips" (my little one called them "cameras" because they were rectangular with a round silver grommet, or "lens", in the center). When I asked her to put her shoes on, she would tell me "Not the one with the cameras!" I think the little clips rubbed on her foot and hurt her. 


So I did what any reasonable person would do. I cut them off. This left us with a flip flop with no elastic strap. We tried to use them like that, but 2 year olds have a really hard time walking in shoes with no back strap.


Then it hit me. Rubber bands! 

 I love my baby's chunky little feet.

 Find rubber band that are not too small or tight. Hopefully you have two of the same size. (mine were not the same color, but that didn't bother me)

Put the rubber band around the base of the flip flop straps.

 When you put them on, make sure that their toes are on TOP of the rubber band in the front so that the band won't slip off. Then just pull up the band in the back onto their heel.

Obviously, I wouldn't CHOOSE to do this as a permanent shoe. But in a pinch, it works like a charm. I think I'll start carrying rubber bands in my purse, just in case.

"No-Poo"

It's not what you think.


Apparently there is a new trend (well, new to me anyway) to not use shampoo when you wash your hair.... "No (sham)Poo".....


I'm probably the last one on Earth to hear about it, but just in case you were out of the loop too, here's the gist. (Thank you to my friend who spoke to me about this today... you know who you are). 


For those of us with curly hair, moisture can be our worst enemy and turn our lovely locks into a frizzy mess. Yes, there are many products out there to "tame", "smooth", and otherwise reduce frizz, but they don't always work. And besides, they cost a lot and often have crazy chemicals in them. You can blow dry your hair straight, but there is no guarantee that that will keep the frizz away either. And with three kids, I do NOT have time to blow dry my hair all the time. I'm lucky if I get a shower. It's getting better now that my kids are getting older (2, 4, and 6), but I still have WAY too much to do to spend that much time on my hair. However, I have vowed not to just put it up in a ponytail and actually attempt to "do" my hair as often as possible.


So, back to the "no-poo" method. (Ok, I can't really call it that. It's just weird. I'll have to think of some other name for it.) This is what I learned from my friend and some research on the internet (here). I'd like to actually read the book "Curly Girl" by Lorraine Massey, but until I have more time, I'm going with what I can get online.


1. Curly hair is more porous than straight, which is why humidity causes it to frizz.


2. Shampoos have sulfates to remove product buildup and oil, which also remove the natural oils that curly hair needs to stay smooth. (There are sulfate free shampoos, but why spend the money if you don't really need to, right?)


3. Conditioners have enough cleaners in them to use as a shampoo (without the damaging effects)..... it is important to make sure that the conditioners do not have certain ingredients that are harmful (these are listed in the link).


4. The "silicones" used in hair products causes buildup (only removed by sulfates) so if you do "no-poo" you also have to stop using products with silicone (or periodically use a special cleaner to remove the buildup).


5. Do not brush your hair and rinse with cold water just before getting out of the shower (I actually DID know this one) to reduce frizz.


If you want more details, go here.


I already only wash my hair 1-2 times a week (because I don't have the time for more and it really doesn't need any more than that), but I do use shampoo and various products to straighten or reduce frizz. I still have trouble, though, with my hair getting frizzy. And if it's raining outside or I'm in a humid climate? Forget about it. It even frizzes in a ponytail. So I have decided to try this method and see what happens. (My friend said it's been weeks since she used shampoo and it has had an amazing effect on her curls, so I'm hopeful). I washed my hair today with conditioner. No shampoo. I also did not brush it after my shower, used a cotton cloth instead of a terry towel to try it, and did not use any product. I probably should have shampooed it one more time with sulfate shampoo to remove the gel I had in it, but I decided not to (my product seems to have a low level of silicone, so I don't think I have much buildup to remove). I had to go to a school fundraiser, and I didn't have time to let it dry properly (and I didn't want to blowdry it), so I just pinned it up. We'll see what it looks like when I take it down. But it feels clean. The research I did warns me of a "transitional period" where my hair may look and feel worse before it gets better. Apparently this can last a few weeks. I'm hopeful that, because I don't wash my hair all the time already, it won't take long for it to "adjust" to the new program. 


Just another way I'm trying to save money, reduce chemicals, and live a little simpler.


Here are a few more websites I found with some great information on the ingredients to avoid when trying the "curly girl" method of caring for your hair: livecurlylivefree.com, healthycurls.net, curlyhair.wikia.com, curlgirljourney.blogspot.com.




****UPDATE*****
It's been almost two weeks since I started my no shampoo regime. The first few days I was pretty skeptical and my hair seemed to look worse (though this could be because I wasn't able to let it air dry after I washed it the first time). After the second "wash"  with conditioner only, I was thrilled with the results. Super curls with very little frizz. Now that I've "washed" and dried my hair with the recommended steps (that you can learn with the above links) I am sold. I will continue to "co-wash" and avoid sulfates and silicones. In fact, I am so happy with the results that I have started doing the same thing with my daughter's curly hair.