Glubber

It's the time of year that the cabin fever starts to set in. Winter has been around all too long and the kids have been cooped up just enough to make you want to pull your hair out one thin strand at a time. This is when moms dust off their desperation creativity and search the internet ol' brain for something to get the kids out of their hair squealing with glee.

Ahem.

What you need is a quick and easy concoction the kids will LOVE that can be whipped up with simple ingredients that you might have around the house.

Enter Glubber, the rubbery, bouncy, slimy-feeling glop that will literally take minutes to make and keep kids happy for hours.

Glubber
1 Tablespoon Borax
1/4 Cup White Glue
1/4 Cup water

Pour 1/4 Cup water in a plastic cup; add Borax and stir for 2 minutes until water is saturated (you will still have some borax in the bottom of the cup). Pour glue into a zip-top bag. Pour the liquid from the Borax mixture into the bag, zip bag closed and squeeze bag until a soft mass forms in the liquid (about 30 seconds). Run tap water in the bag for about 10 seconds to rinse the glubber off. Remove it from the bag and play away (try bouncing it!). Store in an airtight bag.

I have never tried coloring the glubber, but I would think you could add a tiny bit of food coloring to the glue to give your glubber a tint. If you try that, let me know.

Heather is a wife, mom,
school cafeteria worker,
councilwoman and babysitter from Ohio.
She also blogs at Heather LessiterIts All for the Best
and The Fat Bottomed Girl.

Sweet Treats for your Sweet Pea!

One of the nice things about having a three year old is that you can pull just about anything out of the freezer and say it's ice cream. I wonder when he'll wise up to that? Today while he was at school, I made these yummy little "ice cream" treats. They were so easy that a blow-by-blow is really not necessary, but the whole project made me happy, so I thought I'd share.

First, meet Oskar. He's been in our family since the 1970's. You know, back before planned obsolescence when they made things to last a lifetime? My mom made my baby food in it and I used it to make my son's as well. When the day comes that I have to chuck this baby into the landfill, I won't feel all that bad about it, because Oskar has lived a long and helpful life.

These I found for $0.49 each at Goodwill. I want to make crayons as party favors for my son's birthday this summer. I thought I'd have to search the thrift stores for ages something like this, but I was pleasantly surprised to find them dirt cheap on my first trip. The two in the front are from Ikea and feel like those silpat (?) cooking mats. The one in the back seems to be an ice cube tray. I was looking at the metal versions on ebay (since I'm avoiding plastic) but they cost a lot more than $0.49. And since there is no new manufacturing impact here, I was very pleased to rescue them!

And these are the contents of my fridge. Please don't ask me where I buy fruit locally in the middle of winter in Colorado. Because I don't. But let's not talk about that. It's on my "things to work on list" for 2009.

So everything gets dumped into Oskar and chopped up. I was planning to add yogurt, but ran out of it, so I added a bit of milk instead.

Spoon it into the ice cube trays and freeze.

Isn't that better than the store-bought stuff? No high fructose corn syrup, no additives, dyes, or other things you can't pronounce. A little creativity and an old friend go a long way!

~* Kellie blogs regularly at Greenhab: The Browns go Green *~

Hi everyone

Stephanie wanted me to let every one know that we do not have any power at the house (again.) So she was unable to post today's post. Keep your eye out, she is bound to make an appearance here soon.

Tim

Carnival #102

This week Mama Bear has another wonderful carnival for us to enjoy! Be sure to see the complete carnival at I've Got a Little Space to Fill. We are in need of more hosts. Please email makeitfromscratch at yahoo.com to be added to the schedule!

Here a few submissions that I found particularly interesting from this week's carnival:

Mama Cloth

I've had a similar project brewing in my head. This gives me another idea for how to make it work. Perhaps you will see it here some first of the month. 

Chickpea and Spinach Soup

Mary never fails to give us a fantastic recipe for the carnival. This one hits on two of my favorite ingredients. It looks fabulous! 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Love

Perhaps at the opposite end of the spectrum, but chocolate and peanut may be my favorite combination of flavors! This dessert will be on the to try list at this house! 

Enjoy the carnival!

Other items of interest:
Festival of Frugality
The Homesteader's Carnival
Foods Naturally


Apologies for my tardiness in posting this. It has been a crazy day! 

Quick and Easy Handmade Burp Cloths

One thing you can never have enough of with a baby in the house is burp cloths. They serve as an all-purpose napkin/hankie/washcloth/bib and you go through them quickly. A co-worker of mine recently became a dad and I thought these burp cloths that I saw at Rocks in My Dryer would be the prefect gift.

Shannon made hers with two coordinating fabrics, but the choices were limited at my fabric store and I LOVED the one I found so much that I just bought two yards of it. If you find two that coordinate, you'll need one yard of each. You'll get around 6 cloths out of two yards and it took me a couple of hours to make mine, but that includes several interruptions by the kiddos.

MATERIALS NEEDED

2 yards of flannel

Thread to match

Pinking shears or scissors

Pins

Step 1: Wash, dry and iron your fabric. This is important because the fabric will shrink and shift and you want it to do this before you sew.

Step 2: Make a pattern out of an 11 X 17 inch piece of paper (or tape 2 sheets of 8.5 X 11 together along the 11 inch sides). Use a cup or glass to trace a rounded edge in each corner and cut the corners out.

Step 3: Place your fabric right-sides (printed sides) together; trace your pattern on the back of the fabric laying the edges as close to each other as possible.

Step 4: Cut the fabric pieces out (use pinking shears if you have them) keeping the two pieces together.

Step 5: Pin the pieces together in various places around the edges. (You all know I'm a rebel and don't like to use pins, so pretend I followed my own directions. K?)

Step 6: Using slightly more than a 1/4 inch seam allowance, start stitching about half-way down one of the long sides of the cloth. Sew all the way around the edges leaving a 4 to 5-inch opening on the side.

Step 7: Reach inside the opening and turn the piece right-side out. Push out the corners and iron the entire piece to make the edges nice and neat and easier to sew.

Step 8: Using LESS THAN a 1/4 inch seam allowance, stitch all the way around the edge of the cloth. The smaller seam allowance will sew the opening closed and will go right through the original seam allowance giving some stability to the cloth. Make sure you back stitch.

Step 9: Trim your threads and you're done!!!

Heather is a wife, mom,school cafeteria worker,councilwoman and babysitter from Ohio.She also blogs at Heather LessiterIts All for the Bestand The Fat Bottomed Girl.

It's like buttah!

I love making homemade butter because it's incredibly easy, yet it always seems to amaze people. Not to mention you control what goes into it, so there's never any additives or preservatives or anything partially hydrogenated.

To get started you'll need some heavy whipping cream, a jar and something to put the butter in. My kind of prep work! I use an old spaghetti sauce jar and, yes, that's actually a sugar bowl...but it does just fine as a butter dish for the fridge too.

Let the cream sit out for a half hour or so before you begin to let it warm up a bit. Fill the jar about a third to half way full, put the lid on tightly and start shaking! I've filled the jar too high several times and had to pour some out because it expands as you shake it. After a few minutes the sides of the jar will be white with a nice thick whipped cream. Taste it if you'd like!

Keep shake, shake, shaking and you'll notice it become thick with the slightest yellow tint to it. If you open the jar now it may look more like mayonnaise. Another minute or two and you'll see it start to separate from the sides of the jar, then eventually clump together at the bottom. It will look a tiny bit like cottage cheese, but smoother.

Just another few shakes and the thick parts will stick together and separate from the buttermilk. At this point, you'll want to open the jar and pour off the buttermilk that has separated.


I usually shake a few more time and repeat pouring off any extra buttermilk. Then pour the butter into a bowl. It should slide right out.

There you have butter! (And a good arm workout as well!) When I remember, I add a dash of salt somewhere in the middle of this process. I bet you could add some freshly chopped chives or other herbs. That would be delicious on warm bread fresh from the oven.

Go home and amaze your loved ones tonight!

Kellie blogs regularly at Greenhab: The Browns Go Green.

Cutting your Food Costs

Seems everyone these days is looking for ways to trim the budget. Food expense is often an area of the budget with a lot of fat. Below are some suggestions that may help you trim it down.

1. Cook from scratch.

C'mon you knew that was coming. This is Make it from Scratch after all. Starting with basic ingredients, instead of ready made items, for your family's meals is not only good for your health it is also good for your budget. 

Consider the items you normally use a mix for, or purchase ready made. Once a week or so try to make one of them from scratch. You'll find that many of them are almost as easy to make from scratch as they are to make from a mix. Share what you try right here for Firsts on the First. 

2. Use less meat.

If you already cook most of your family's meals, you can trim your grocery budget even further by using less meat. Stretch your meat by using it in soups, casseroles and stir fry instead of serving it as a stand alone dish. Serve a vegetarian meal or two every week. You may be surprised how much your family loves the very economical dried beans. 

3. Pack your lunches.

If you or your spouse work, if the kids go to school, packing lunches can save a huge amount of money. A five dollar lunch picked up at a drive through may not seems like a big deal, but think of how many meals for the whole family you could buy with that same money. How much does a box of spaghetti and a jar of sauce cost? Or how many bags of beans would $5 buy. Eating out adds up quickly. 

4. Eat your leftovers. 

Throwing away leftovers is simply throwing away cash. Use your leftovers for lunch the next day. Save all the leftovers for one night and call it a buffet. Let everyone pick out what they would like to eat for dinner that night. Get creative and make new things from your leftovers. 

5. Stick to a shopping schedule. 

Those "quick trips" to the grocery store to get "just one item" often become a cart full of groceries you hadn't planned on buying. Keep a running list of items you are running low on so you can stock up on your next shopping trip. If you are out of an ingredient, try to find a substitute or make do with out it. 

6. Keep it basic and simple.

Elaborate recipes, or high priced ingredients may be fun and tasty, but they are not necessary to meet your family's needs. Simple and basic does not mean tasteless, either. Some of the most simple and economical meals are family comfort food favorites. 

Food is a necessity, but spending a fortune to meet that need is not. What are your favorites tips and tricks to help keep food costs down?