DIY Home "Projects"

Typically I'm not a Do-It-Yourself-er; I'd rather just buy it complete. But in the past year, I've been making more things myself instead of the ready, prepackaged stuff. I'm not talking about projects around the house, because my handiness creates more problems than solutions. But I am proud of my homemade, household creations like protein bars, granola bars, salsa, tomato sauce, yogurt, and reusable baby wipes. Most, if not all, were created in order to save money, but another big benefit is the healthy nature of doing it yourself -- I know all the ingredients that went into it, I controlled the processing, and there are no preservatives.

I've been reading more online about family cloth and homemade detergent, and the appeal for me is not so much of the natural green but more of the financial green. I do recognize there's a healthier aspect to family cloth and perhaps to homemade detergent, but saving money on toilet paper and commercial detergents speaks louder to me -- and don't read this as I'm giving up my TP, because I'm not quite ready for that yet! I wonder if most users of family cloth and homemade detergent do so for financial savings.


Photo Credit:Image: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The New Chef?!?

I'm usually domestically challenged -- I aim to prepare healthy and balanced meals, but I don't cook from scratch and create one-pot meals, with perhaps one side dish and no more! Yes, I'm a stay-at-home-mom, but I really don't like cooking! With admiration, I desire to be like those moms who thrive in the kitchen, find organic products on discount, and grind their own whole wheat flour.

But recently I've been reading more interesting and simple recipes, and last week I tried a Garden Ratatouille (which turned out great, except that the little one decided she didn't want any part of it). This week, I made my own cornbread -- move aside Jiffy mix; when I was shopping for corn meal, I opted for the most expensive, organic meal with germ -- I think that's good -- and could purchase that because I was saving so much with coupons on my other products -- I digress.
I also indulged in making my own protein bars and granola bars; protein bars were a grand success -- granola bars were a failure, but I do have lots of crumbly, homemade granola to top my yogurt...homemade yogurt. Yes, a couple of days ago, I decided to make my own yogurt in the crock pot, and in spite of my nervousness about whether the cultures would work, I'm thrilled to report success! Unfortunately the little one does not like homemade yogurt...I think it's too tangy for her -- so if you have suggestions on how I could get her to eat more and also on how to get my homemade granola bars to stay together as bars, I'm all ears! But I'm realizing that it is reassuring to know what all the ingredients went into creating what I'm eating, and perhaps I'm proudly one step closer to being a mom who can thrive in the kitchen, find organic products (on discount) and know how to use them, and grind my own whole wheat flour!