Week 7: Une Mot: Mélange

The title in French means "One Word: Medley."  Mélange means: assortment, combo, hodgepodge, jumble, medley, mishmash, mix, mixed bag, patchwork, potpourri.

Yes, this has been a week of shuffles, rerouting, reinventing, and practicing lots of flexibility.

For one, my husband's work schedule switched from days to nights this week and even had a day off. If anyone reading this homeschools, you know that this sole factor changes how things are usually run. It's such a privilege to have Dad (my husband) hang out with us in the morning (which he only gets to do that on the weekends), but then we miss him in the evenings when he's at work. Thankfully, this is only one week a month.

So, I did homeschool, with a more relaxed tone. Surprisingly, we got more things done. :) I apologize for forgetting to take pictures of everything we did this week. I'll find a picture of our activity elsewhere or I'll try to describe it as best as I can.
We had Circle Time, which is one of Caleb's favorite classes. We recite the Pledge of Allegiance, the Pledge of Allegiance to the Christian flag, and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Bible.  It touches my heart how at the end of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Christian flag, it says "and coming back, with life and liberty to all who believe" and Caleb, all by himself, says "I believe!" every single time we recite it.  During Circle Time, we also read from the Christian Mother Goose.  My two favorites so far are: 

We also read a Bible lesson, recite our memory verses, do academic activities (games or paper and pencil), practice left and right, do calendar (weather, date, days of the week, months of the year, etc) and read books as well as flash cards with sight words.

This is one of the activities we did this week. Opposites.

After Circle Time, we have a snack (fruit, crackers, or popsicles). If there is time, we will have another academic activity or two.  This week, we practiced the number rods with digit cards (1-10), cutting, gluing, baking, cutting food, etc.  It was a fun week.

I wanted to add this picture because I am proud to say that K
is a wonderful salad eater. He eats salads with us and eats
everything in it, even spinach! This makes my heart happy.

A quick tip on how to keep greens alive longer:
Soak in cold filtered water with homemade veggie wash
(vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, water) for 15 minutes.
Cut a little bit of the bottom and put in a bowl with
a little bit of water.  Works for lettuce, celery, cilantro, and anything
else that likes to "drink" water.

Homemade Natural Air Freshener

Commercial air fresheners are very dangerous and damaging to us and our kids (especially the aerosol kinds).  I have done extensive research and I have opted to use only candles, coffee beans, and this natural air freshener below.

You will need:
A hammer
A nail
A mason jar (I picked this short, cute one at Target)
About 1/2 cup baking soda
Essential oil of preference (I used orange)

Poke holes on the lid with the hammer and nail. Make any pattern you like.
Add the baking soda and a few drops of the essential oil.  This isn't overpowering, it simply helps remove smells.  If you do want it to be powerful, then add more essential oil in there.  Works great!

Homemade toothpaste

I made my own toothpaste this week and I love it! It is extremely easy.

You can follow the recipe in the picture below (which I haven't done) or you can follow mine.

For mine, you will need:

aluminum free baking soda

coconut oil

peppermint essential oil (100% pure, therapeutic grade)

optional: clove essential oil (100% pure, therapeutic grade)

a small container with lid

Put about 2 tbsp of the baking soda and add coconut oil until it makes a paste.

Add about 10 drops of peppermint oil and mix. I added 2 drops of clove oil (optional) because it helps with bleeding gum, which is my case.

Just in case you didn't know, a natural way of healing cavities is to put coconut oil on the cavity daily, so by brushing your teeth with coconut oil in the mix, you make sure that a layer of it stays on and not only heals existing cavities, but it may also protect from getting new ones. Wow! 

Let me know if you have decided to try this and how you liked it.

Homemade Tomato Sauce for Pasta

I'll be honest with you, who doesn't love to just open a jar of pasta sauce and pour it over pasta instead of having to take a very long time to make the better alternative: the homemade kind? This is the truth, I have spent al morning getting a homemade tomato sauce ready for tonight's dinner.  Not only does it require taking skins off of tomatoes and all the jazz that surrounds that, but the sauce is also supposed to simmer for 4 hours! That means I'm tied down to staying at home to keep "watching" the sauce.

It tastes good, so far, but these are my thoughts about the two sauce choices:

The store-bought pasta sauce contains all kinds of preservatives and unnecessary junk that makes it taste good, but it isn't good for us.

The homemade is definitely a better alternative because the ingredients are fresher and no preservatives or junk of any kind.  My concern about this is that the 4-hour simmering process practically kills the food and there might be little or no nutritional value in it at the end of it all.

WHAT'S MY ALTERNATIVE? 

Well, last week, I decided to make pasta, but realized we were out of pasta sauce at a time when it was too late to head to the store to but some. So what did I do? I threw tomatoes, a little onion, garlic, spices, Italian seasoning, a bit of olive oil, pepper, and green and red bell peppers in the blender and blended it all. I didn't cook it, just warmed it up a little bit! 

I browned the ground beef and mixed it in with the sauce and pasta in the individual bowls and not in a big container (it is easier to save leftovers because pasta won't get soggy). 

Long story short: it was delicious and fresh and I felt so good that I was sure that my family and I were getting all of our veggies' nutritional value.  So there. That's what I'll be doing from now on. :) It was very quick, too. I love it!

Remove container print for reuse

Remove container print with nail polish remover and a scrubby sponge! Dude, I'm not trying to be cheap, I'm trying to save the world while my containers are reused and look pretty. I do confess, though, that I mostly use glass containers for everything.

MOLD KILLERS

MOLD KILLER

1. Use a glass (amber or blue) spray bottle. I like the 10 ounce ones because they are not too big or too small.
2. Fill it up 3/4 of the way with spring water.
3. Add 10-20 drops of tea tree (melaleuca) essential oil.
4. Fill up the rest of the bottle with white vinegar or hydrogen peroxide or a mixture of both.

Shake.
Spray.
Do not rinse.
Do not spray on fabric if you put hydrogen peroxide in the bottle. It has bleaching properties.

Homemade Laundry Detergent and Softener Recipes

BATHROOM (TOILET) CLEANER BASIC RECIPE

BATHROOM (TOILET) CLEANER BASIC RECIPE

1.  Sprinkle some baking soda and lemon juice (or any citrus essential oil) into your toilet.
2.  Let it sit for a few minutes.
3.  Scrub it with a toilet brush.

It will be super clean, break through hard water stains and it will smell great.

ALL-PURPOSE and GLASS CLEANERS / DISINFECTANTS

ALL-PURPOSE CLEANERS / DISINFECTANTS
It also works well for lime deposits, hard water stains, etc.

I will just post the 2 basic recipes I use the most:

I like to use glass spray bottles for anything that will be housing essential oils.

Recipe 1:
1. Fill up 3/4 of the bottle with spring water.
2. Fill up the rest with white vinegar.
3. Add a few drops of essential oils. I personally like to use lemon or lemongrass, along with Thieves (from Young Living essential oils).
Optional: for extra strength cleaning, you can add a few tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide. Be careful, though, as this has bleaching properties. Make sure you only use it on hard surfaces (like kitchen counters, sinks, bathtubs, etc) and NOT ON FABRIC.

Recipe 2:
1. Put fruit or herbs (fresh or dried), flowers, etc in a mason jar. I like cilantro and pineapple, rose petals and lemon, or just plain lemon.
2. Fill up half the mason jar with spring water.
3. Fill up the rest with white vinegar.
4. Let it "rest" for 2 weeks.
5. Strain as you pour into a spray bottle. If the smell is too strong, add more water. Remember, the vinegar smell will be strong at first, but will evaporate a few minutes after using.

That's it! So simple!

I am a Young Living essential oils distributor. You can order from www.youngliving.com and use my distributor number to order if you'd like (1498096).

NATURAL AIR FRESHENERS and INSECT REPELLANT

AIR FRESHENERS

I am in love with my Young Living essential oils. They are such wonderful essential oils that I decided to become a distributor. You can order directly from me or from www.youngliving.com and use my distributor number to order if you'd like (1498096).
                            
For air fresheners or anything that will house essential oils, I love to get glass spray bottles. I like to get mine here (not an affiliate link).

I fill up the bottle almost 3/4 of the way with spring water and the rest with witch hazel or white vinegar.

Then I add my favorite essential oils (a few drops will do, 3-5 maybe).

For the kitchen, I love Lemongrass.

For the living room, I use Cedarwood or Valor.

For the kids' bedroom, I use Lavender or Surrender.

For my bedroom, I use Stress Away or Surender.

For the holiday season, I LOVE Cinnamon Bark and Christmas Spirit.

That's it! Yes, it is that simple and your home, upholstery, curtains, and even your pets' beds will smell delicious! And not only that, they will enjoy the health benefits that these oils have!

Note: If you use this recipe with witch hazel, it doubles as a bug spray! I like to add a few drops of citronella essential oil to make it an even stronger insect repellant.

Homemade Natural Air Freshener

This is especially great for the bathroom.
Commercial air fresheners are very dangerous and damaging to us and our kids (especially the aerosol kinds). I have done extensive research and I have opted to use only candles, coffee beans, and this natural air freshener below.

You will need:
A hammer
A nail
A mason jar (I picked this short, wide-mouthed one, but any size will do)
About 1/2 cup baking soda
Essential oil of preference (I used orange)


1) Poke holes on the lid with the hammer and nail. Make any pattern you like.2) Add the baking soda and a few drops of the essential oil. This isn't overpowering, it simply helps remove/neutralize smells. If you do want it to be powerful, then add more drop essential oil in there. Works great!



             

Homemade Substitutions

HOMEMADE SUBSTITUTIONS

Click here to see a website that talks about safe, non-toxic, homemade cleaner substitutions.

Intro to homemade cleaning solutions

Disclaimer: I am merely sharing this wonderful information that I collected for personal use. I don't take credit for any of these recipes. I might have tweaked some here and there, but all in all, I didn't come up with any of them. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do every day.

INTRODUCTION TO HOMEMADE CLEANING SOLUTIONS

Click here to go to a website that contains some awesome information about making your own non-toxic cleaning kit.

Click here for safe, non-toxic cleaning supplies recipes.