Raising Homemakers!

This has been floating around Facebook this week:

We need to teach our daughters to distinguish between a man who flatters her and a man who compliments her, a man who spends money on her and a man who invests in her, a man who views her as property and a man who views her properly, a man who lusts after her and a man who loves her, a man who believes he is God's gift to women and a man who remembers that a woman was God's gift to man.

I thought it was very valuable advice and thought in case you missed it, I'd share it here.  

And I thought this would be a good time to share about a blog called Raising Homemakers. They are all about raising our daughters to be women of God and good helpers to their future husbands.  I hope you find something useful there to help you raise your daughters. 

I'm Joining this Challenge! Plan it - Don't Panic!

Today I came across a link for this challenge on Facebook. I know that menu planning saves time, money, energy, but it always seems like so much work. So I'm hoping that by joining this challenge I will be able to stick with it and be encourage, inspired and have new food ideas available to me! Interested in joining too! Join the Plan it - Don't Panic Challenge!

Updated October 17th, 2011: Apparently I was feeling a little over zealous when I signed up for this. I thought it would be a great idea despite the fact that I new we'd be moving. Anyway, I'm not going to try and catch up. I still have about half my unpacking to do. At the very least I hope it inspired some of you to join.

My Button!

My friend Ali at So...Yeah...Okay... let me know that my button wasn't working right! So if you grabbed my button please update it! Thanks so much!

Check out My Inspiring Blogs Page!

New page with buttons to some great blogs/resources I've found. Trying to do some house cleaning on my front page and move blogs I like to another page all together, not done yet but still a good list over there! Check it out here.

What Inspires Me to Post?

Yesterday I got a post on my Facebook wall from a friend asking me, "How do you get inspired?" So I thought I'd blog about it.

Originally, I got inspired by being addicted to reading blogs.

Another inspiration is when I sit down and Google "How To" directions for something and have to piece together parts of what I read on various sites to get something to work for me. Then I condense and post in an effort to make things easier for others.

Mostly, learning inspires me. I learn something new and want to post about it. Or find something I'm totally excited about and want to post about it.

I did have to get over a period of time when I would think "I'm sure there's tons of articles out there on the net about this already". It's not stopping anyone else so why me?

Another thing that seems to happen is when I get one idea, I get like 5. So instead of posting about them all in one day, I keep a little notebook and write the main idea and some notes to help me remember when I come back to it.

On days when I can't seem to think of anything, I rely on recipes. I have a whole box of ones are family eats and loves and I share those when I have nothing else to say.

The last thing that keeps me inspired is that someday I hope that my blog will become my "work" from home & therefore I look for things that help me in my life and how they might help others and post about it.

Hope this helps, people keep on blogging!

How to Know if You Should Use Powdered or Liquid Laundry Soap

Do you think that whether you use powdered or liquid laundry soap is just a matter of personal preference? Have you ever wondered why if they both do the same thing why there's a difference? Well wonder know more, I've got the answer and explanation for you.

As far as I can tell people choose liquid or powder laundry soap based on 1 of 2 viewpoints. It was what their mother used and they have not problem with it or It was what their mother used and they have a problem so they use the other.

Basically, the major reason for choosing which kind of soap to use is humidity. Powdered laundry soap clumps together in areas where the humidity is high. Dry climates like the desert where I live, don't have this problem.

This I read said another reason to choose liquid over powder was due to hard water. They said that it wasn't dissolving well and not rinsing from the clothes or machine well. We've had hard water all my life and never had these problems. My best guess is that people assume that the scoop is the amount of soap they need when you really only need maybe the 1st line on the scoop for everyday laundry. Maybe more for dirty laundry.

So if you don't live in a humid area and are looking for a way to cut spending try powdered detergent or making your own. After all, why would you want to pay someone for something that's at least partly water when you have that at home. And if you really like liquid and would like to make your own, you can find lots of recipes out there or try this one.

I'm Trying these New Things!

The Oil Cleansing Method: I've seen and heard of it before but just ran across it again the other day here. Starting today (09/03/2011)

Homemade Laundry Soap: Modified recipe #9 in this list. You can find my modified recipe here. Starting as soon as my old laundry soap is gone about 1 or 2 loads from now.

All Purpose Cleaner made from laundry soap above. See recipe here.

Watch for an update on these things!

Have You Heard About Groupon?

Groupon is a site that offers deals based on the buying power of a large group. Initially, I wasn't sure it wasn't a scam but I just purchased my 3rd & 4th groupons this week and couldn't be more thrilled with the savings. For example here is what I bought. 1st Groupon: $7 for $15 on Ebay (meaning I paid $7 for a $15 gift card). 2nd Groupon: $10 for $25 at NuttyGuys.com. 3rd & 4th Groupons: $89 for unlimited eyebrow, lip, and chin laser hair removal & $89 for 6 treatments of one small area, like underarms. There is always a time or number for sale limit so if you want something you usually have to act fast. When I find something I'll actually use I always save more than 50%. So if you need savings, check out Groupon!

How to Make Bacon without Getting Burned from Popping Grease!

My family loves bacon! Lately we've been eating it much more frequently, but I hate getting burned by popping grease. Not to mention the huge mess it makes all over my stove and the surrounding counter even thought I use a splatter screen. That got me to thinking, can bacon be cooked in the oven? There's got to be an easier way. A quick Google search later and I confirmed that people have in fact cooked bacon in the oven. So if you're looking for a quick and easy way to make bacon, here's what you do.

Step 1: Cut entire package of bacon, with the wrapper still on in half.
Step 2. Get out 2 cookie sheets, some articles suggested wrapping with foil for easy clean up, but we didn't have big enough foil and used two pieces and it didn't really help, you decided if this is worth it for you.
Step 3: Place bacon on cookie sheets.
Step 4: Put bacon in oven and set to 400 degrees. DO NOT Preheat. Set timer for 17 mins. Watch closely after that if you think it needs a little more cooking. It should look golden brown when it's done.

Making bacon while making pancakes or something else becomes a lot easier! Check out my post on "How to Make Crumbled Bacon" too.