Mammajoy

A Drying (& folding) Good Time

 

My mum has all the good ideas.

A while back we were discussing the complexities of having a downstairs laundry.  Couple that with having 4 kids and my time walking up and down the backstairs = five thousand and two.  Per week.

Not to mention the MOUNTAINS of clean laundry that are left on my lounge at the end of each day, ready to be folded.  Sometimes I'll just leave them there, decorating my lounge suite.

Adds a homely touch, I feel.

So I'm lamenting my situation over a cup of coffee one day and my mum comes up with this great 'pigeon hole' system whereby I wash, dry and fold - but rather than lug everything upstairs - I fold and put into a basket labelled with my children's name - one basket for each child.  This will drastically reduce my folding time AND give the kids an opportunity to be involved in the (never-blink'n-ending) process of washing clothes which will HOPEFULLY lead them to not change their outfits 3 times per day.  If they know there is more work involved for them if they change their clothes too frequently, then maybe they'll stop!

And when they run out of clean clothes, I'll happily tell them to 'Go downstairs to the laundry and find your basket, bring it upstairs and put your clothes away!'  Yay Yay Yay! Everyone's happy now!  (I've been practicing that speech, can you tell?)

I've yet to set the wheels in motion on this little laundry overhaul.  Mainly because I will need Matt to build some shelves and some pigeon holes and give the laundry a big tidy.  He's been busy with work so it's going to have to wait.  But I will.  Oh yes I will implement this system.  I think it's genius!  And I just hope the kids cooperate with the new system...

The other smart idea my mum has given me is to use the dehydrator that has been sitting under my house for about 12 months.

I always had good intentions of using it, but they never really eventuated.

While mum was here taking amazing care of me and my family after the events of 3 weeks ago (which I may one day share with you...) she went downstairs, found the dehydrator, gave it a clean and set that baby up with trays upon trays of delicious fruit.  She even made some natural fruit roll-ups.  My kids love roll-ups - you know the supermarket ones - we've bought them the odd packet as a treat and I always regret it!  They are so sickly sweet and they get stuck in their teeth something bad.  More cavities anyone?

But this dehydrating business is set to change all that.  And I've never seen Jess and Rach so keen to help before.  They loved it!  The slicing, the laying out, the mixing up.  Hours! of! Fun!  The house smelt devine for hours - lovely sweet bananas and apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon.  Scrumptious!

Once everything was dried she divvied it all into snack-size ziplock bags for the kids to take to school and kindy.  Brilliant.  Idea.

We call them our dried snack packs and the kids love them.  And I love them because they are affordable, 100% natural, have zero additives, and the kids love to help out in the process of making them.

So that happened when my mum was here and we've been enjoying them ever since.  They keep very well in the pantry.

But then we ran out of these wonderful snack packs.

And the dehydrator was sitting there, trying to get my attention.  Looking all layered and approachable.

So.  The other day, the boys and I did it.  Mum, you'd be proud.

 

 

Bananas were first.  These slices are so incredibly yummy when they're dried.  The natural sugars become more concentrated (by the lack of moisture) so they are much sweeter than a normal banana.

 

 

Am I a food- geek if I think this is a beautiful picture?

 

 

Apples were the next victims.  Mum sprinkled these with regular ground cinnamon, but I used cinnamon sugar.  Couldn't resist really.  And they turned out lovely.

 

 

Next we whizzed up some fruit for the roll-ups.  I didn't use any recipe for this - just blended together some banana, paw-paw and coconut cream.  Once I poured it onto the trays I sprinkled some desiccated coconut on top.  HEAVEN HAVE MERCY these were yummy when they were finished!  It's like a trip to the Carribean in every bite!  So tropical!  The bliss!

This picture above is before they were dried.

 

 

And this is when they were finished.  I think it was maybe 9-10hrs in the dehydrator?  Ridiculously yummy.

 

 

Once finished I cut them into wedges and rolled 'em on up!  They hold their shape really well and don't stick together like the commercial ones do.

 

 

And voila!  Here are our snack packs for next weeks school/kindy lunches.  In each pack is a tropical roll-up, dried banana, dried apple, some sultanas and a few dried cranberries.

If I can be organised with this hopefully we can buy less store-bought processed snacks and give my munchkins more natural food.

That's the aim anyway.

 

 

A bowl full of goodness.

 

 

Oh and you know I kept one for myself!!  They're just too good!

 

 

The Best Idea E-V-A

So my super-talented sister (from here, in case you're unaware of her awesomeness) was over on the weekend and we got to talking about bunting.

Any normal conversation naturally turns to the marvelous topic of bunting don't they?

Well my sister told me about weatherproof bunting.  That you can hang up outside.  And you can leave it there.

Say-what-now?

So I googled and I found it and here it is.  Originally from this lovely blog.

image source

 

I may make 10 or a thousand.  What's even better about this pattern is that you recycle old plastic shopping bags.

My afternoon cuppa in the backyard is about to become oh-so-more-pretty!

Thank you Pepper and Hannah.

Amanda xxoo

 

P.S  We had a gorgeous day on Saturday at Miss Rachael's 5th Birthday Party.  Once I find my loungeroom floor and finish scraping cake icing off the kitchen benches (rock solid stuff) I'll post some photos.

Slightly green(ish) Thumb

I'm not a gardener.  I've tried.  And then I've failed spectacularly.  I discovered after a few failed garden beds that I'm really good at growing weeds. 

So the fact that my front garden contains plants like this?

 
 

 

Is a miracle!

 

Not a weed in sight.  Matt and I have spent quite a few weekends turning, fertilising, and mulching this garden bed and I'm so pleased with how it's turned out.

We all find ouselves out here some days, in the cool of the late afternoon.  The kids picking flowers for the kitchen table while mum and dad check for weeds and potter around, rearranging fairy lights or trimming plants.  I love how it ties us all together; the earth beneath our feet and the feeling of plant life in our hands.  Rachael and Joseph love to go snail hunting and the learning that naturally evolves out of play still amazes me.  I remember another days lessons about snails way back here.  ( I just re-read that post and realised that I mention home-schooling in there.  I love how this decision has been a journey for us).  It's just amazing how much I'm realising that learning doesn't need to occur in a classroom.  The world is our classroom!

 

 The rare, often rambucass creature called the Rachael-Bear.  Loves to climb trees.  I have no idea how she gets up there, it's a tiny tree.

 

My garden is a miracle indeed.

 And one that I am truly thankful for.

Enjoy your Friday!

Amanda

P.S  I'm signing up for the 12 Week Body Transformation with Michelle Bridges on Sunday.  Bit excited.  Bit petrified.  A whole lot over the extra weight I'm carrying! 

homemade cough remedy

We've been getting a bit alternative around here lately.

It began with this little trip to the doctors, when afterwards I began to think about how much our family rely on drugs each day and the more I thought about it the more I realised that we rely on drugs more than I care to mention....

Kid's have a cough?  There's some cough medicine!

Kid's have lot's of sneezing and runny noses?  There an antihistamine for that!

Kid's can't sleep?  Hey, over here!  We've got some codeine?!!

I mean, where do you stop?  Drugs are everywhere and doctors these days are so happy-slappy in handing them out.

Well.

This mamma is gon' put my hand UP, and say NO MORE Mr. Doc.  I've got my home-remedies and I'm about to use them!

This is one of many.

Home-made Cough Syrup

1 x onion

Cold-pressed raw honey (preferably not heat-treated)

1 x glass jar

Dice the onion and put a layer into the bottom of the jar.  Then add a spoon-full of honey to the jar, ensuring that all the onion is covered in honey.

Continue to layer the onion and honey until the jar is full.

Easy, no? 

Leave the jar to sit for 24 hours as is (not in the fridge).  By then the onion will have produced a runny syrup that will be mixing with the honey which will have softened as well.  It's amazing to watch it change.  Then pour the mixture through a sieve into a fresh, clean jar and store in the fridge.

The syrup should look nice and golden.  Take 1 teaspoon 2-3 times a day.  I'm not sure how long this will keep in the fridge, mine has been there for a week so far and it's still good.

I was a little hesitant about the taste of this syrup with all that onion but it's actually very sweet and the honey still taste quite strong.  My kids will even have some, so yipee!

And so does it work?  I think so.  The kids have had bad coughs at night and after a dose of this they seem to settle down.  My cough is just ramping up and so far the syrup is helping to break up the congestion and the um....phlegm.  Can I say that word?  Sorry, but there is no other word.  You've all had colds before right?

There's tonnes of information out there about the health benefits of onions and other vegetables from the onion family, but here is one site I found helpful.

Here's to an easier cold & flu season!  (And a cheaper medical bill)

what the?

Took Samuel to the doctor today - he had an awful night last night and I was really worried about him.  I suspected he had a viral illness (fever and rashes) and a cough so thought I'd better get it checked out.

Low and behold the doctor diagnosed RSV, which (and don't you just love how some doctors can be so vague) basically means an upper respiratory infection that is viral.  I think.  Which kind of explains the wheezing, coughing, grumpiness, and shortness of breath that we've had over the past three days.

But the corker in this tale of woe is that the doctor prescribed asthma medication.  For an eight month old?

Really?

REALLY?  Has it come to that already?

I don't think so.

I'm googling this issue as I type because hello.and.how.are.you NO ONE is going to give my eight month old asthma medication without some serious investigative work beforehand.  I'm looking at about five different pages full of naturopath information, remedies, massages and the yellowpages to boot.  Gotta love the internet.

And if by chance he turns blue tonight, then obviously I'll re-consider my position!

But I don't think it will get to that.  I'm gonna go out on a wing here and say that maybe his body can recover from this without any drug intervention.  I think his body knows what to do.

Sing it with me!

Say NO to drugs!!

One Small Change - January Wrap-Up & February Project

So my 'one small change' for January was to Make my Own Baby Wipes and I'm pleased to announce that I did not purchase any baby wipes for the entire month of January!

And yes I'd like a standing ovation for this because I have four children under five with two still in nappies; so this was kind of a big challenge for this family!

I made a few batches throughout the month and tried a few different techniques which I'll now explain.  It's riveting really.  You might want to grab a coffee and settle in for a while.

Since my first batch I've experimented a little with cutting the paper towel in different ways.  The thing with the original batch

(shown here) was that the wipe itself was quite small, and well, my little Joseph has a big butt (for a 2 year old!) and so I needed a bigger wipe.  Also I wasn't happy with the actual paper towel that I used initially, it was way too thin and broke too easily (it was a cheap brand).

So instead of cutting the paper towel width wise, I cut it length wise, so it looked more like a standard baby wipe.  (Don't cut through both sides, just one).  I ended up with wipes that are a bit bigger than tissue size.  There was however, a bit of wasted paper towel left over, which was kind of annoying because I'm trying to cut down on waste, but I had to cut the towels so that they were all roughly the same size.

When it comes to what paper towel to buy, (and this is the clincher) go expensive.  I know we are trying to save money here but $4 for two paper towels still yields around 2 1/2 boxes of wipes, so it's worth it!  The paper towel I used here was 'Viva', which in Australia is one of the best you can buy.  It's very absorbent and has this fancy weave texture and it REALLY makes a difference.  It doesn't break when I'm mid-wipe on a dirty butt and it goes the distance, if you know what I mean.  

 

This is the wipes container I used, an old 'Huggies' one with the flip-top lid.  I was a bit worried that these wouldn't be air-tight, but they worked fine.

I always feel like I should be wearing a big white coat and some safety goggles when I do this!  I cut back on the quantities for this batch, I think I used 2 cups water, 1 tbsp each of bath wash, baby lotion, and vinegar (plus I add a squirt of aromatherapy blend).

The neat thing with this batch is that the paper towel is strong enough to pull through the container lid - very handy - especially with a wriggling two year old in my grasp!  Even when the box got low, because of the texture the wipes are easy to peel away from each other.

See?  Riveting stuff.

My second batch was when I tried to get reeaally tricky and cut the paper towel length-wise all the way through BOTH SIDES.

It looks wrong, I know.

When I had cut down one side, I turned the paper towel around and cut through the other side, lining up the cuts.

I have no photographic evidence of what happened next, but let me tell you, it got messy.  The paper towel just went everywhere and I had to really hack into it to get any usable wipe shape out of it.  So don't do it this way.  Unless you like billions of pieces of paper towel flying all over your kitchen!

The waiting wipe containers with the liquid mix poured in.

For this batch I tried a different paper towel (can't remember the brand) but it wasn't nearly as good as the Viva batch.

So after this failed attempt I realised that even though there is a bit of wasted paper towel when you cut it once length-wise, it's worth it for the fact that they are easier to get too and do a better job than the toilet-paper style ones I originally tried.

And on the mold factor?  I found none on any of these wipes until about week two, and I was really surprised by this.  I think the key here is to use an air-tight container and make sure it's shut properly between uses.

I also tried using different lotions and creams in the mixes and it looks like the lighter, runnier creams work better than the dense ones, otherwise they don't dissolve into the water and you end up with some wipes covered in cream!

Oh the fun I've had with these wipes!  But now I think I've got the winning method and I'm happy.  It takes about five minutes to make and I'm not having to do special trips to the shops when we've run out (which used to happen a lot).

The only quandary I've had with all this is what to do with the nappy bag?  I know I won't remember to grab the homemade wipes each time I'm heading out the door, and if I make some and leave them in the bag they won't get used quickly enough and they'll go moldy.  So I'm planning on still buying one pack of generic wipes for the nappy bag, and that pack will probably last me 2-4 weeks.  But I figure one pack per month is better than six!

I have really enjoyed this challenge so far and I'm so glad that I finally took the plunge and made these wipes.  Do I miss the store-bought wipes?

Nope.  Not one bit.  The homemade ones feel nicer, they smell fresher and are SO! MUCH! CHEAPER!  Plus I get to decide what goes in them!

And now, finally, my change for February.

(drum roll please...)

I'm going to purchase and use only eco-friendly/natural laundry powder.  You know, the stuff without all the phosphates, fillers and perfumes that are bad for our skin and our waterways.  I'm pumped, I'm ready and I'm armed with free samples I've been receiving through the mail!

If you're doing the challenge too, all the best for February and I hope January's change went well for you and your family!

I'm off to make some wipes.

(No, not really.  I've run out of Viva.  But that would have been a great ending to this post  no?)
 

a thinker not a consumer

Shhhhhh....

Can you hear that?

They are the winds of change coming this way.

Maybe it's because of the holiday that we never had, maybe it's the non-pregnant brain or maybe it's because for our family it's just time - whatever the reason it's so nice to be here.

Over the past few weeks I've become a little more aware - more thoughtful about what we put into our bodies, what we wear, what we watch, and what I clean and cook with.  It's been a strange time of transition and one that is hard to describe - but it kind of feels like we are thinking for ourselves.

The other day it dawned on me that maybe that 'Omo' (laundry powder) commercial isn't really true?  Maybe I don't have to spend $7.00 per/kg to have my clothes clean?  Who knows maybe water and bi-carb could do the same thing?  I swear this was a light bulb moment for me!  I've come to realise that so much of what I buy is VERY influenced by advertisements and peer-pressure that I give little or no thought about what I'm actually buying.

After a day of reflective thinking I realised that without making the conscience decision I had become a mindless consumer.  Not just a consumer - because let's face it, we all need to consume on some level - but a MINDLESS consumer.  Someone who doesn't even think about what they are purchasing!  Oh my.  How did I get here?

Ssshhhh.

Can you hear them getting louder?

Those WINDS OF CHANGE!

Once I began to think about what I buy without actually knowing why I buy them, I couldn't really stop... 

• breakfast cereal (loaded with sugar),
• floor cleaner (hot water and vinegar is so much cheaper)
• the kids de-tangling spray that probably contains some kind of silicone (and I could just use one of those long things with the spikey bits on the end, uh what's that called? Oh....A BRUSH!)
• and the self-tanning lotion that I bought (because it was on sale!? no really it was) which is doing God-only-knows what to my skin when what I really could be doing instead is spending half an hour sitting in God's rich sunlight outside in the fresh air which would be doing WONDERS for my soul, my spirit and ALAS! my skin.

So if you don't mind I'll be sitting over here having an ethical meltdown...

Does anybody else feel this way sometimes?  How did I get to this point?  Perhaps somewhere between having my entire brain taken up with babies and toddlers and trying to run a household and stay sane at the same time.  Yes.  Maybe that's how.  Somewhere along this road I've began to just buy, buy, buy.  Well now it's time for this mamma to think, think, think!

P.S. We are on day 7 with the baby wipes and not a speck of mold can be seen, and they still smell nice and fresh! (I'm pretty proud of myself...can you tell?)

earthy crunchy me

I'm participating in this great challenge from Hip Mountain Mama.  Here is the low-down straight from her blog...

"We want to challenge each of you to make 1 change each month leading up to Earth Day (April 22, 2010).  It can be small or it can be huge, but all we ask is that you decide on something you will do to make a positive green impact and follow through with it.  If everyone makes 4 changes between January and April, this can have a huge effect."

How cool is that?  It's actually very coincidental that I stumbled across this project (via SouleMama) because in the last couple of weeks I have become a) sick and tired of spending so much money on stuff we don't need or use, and b) wanting to get rid of all the unnecessary chemicals we use in our home.

So bring on the challenge I say!  If you are interested in joining in too, here is the post that outlines how the challenge works and to see a full list of all the people and blogs who are participating see the Community of Change page.

I'm a big believer in each of us doing what we can to help the environment.  I used to feel a little disheartened because the problem seemed so big and me?  I'm only one person and what could I possibly do to help?  But by doing just one thing different it does help.  And before I know it one thing plus another one thing will equal lots of things and eventually, lots of change!

So, my 'one small change' for January is making my own baby wipes.

I have always wanted to try this and the other day in a flash of boldness and inspiration I did!

When I had Jessica I considered doing this but at the time thought it looked way too hard.  I laugh when I think about that because it's not hard, at all, but as a first time mum I think wrapping my head around using something NOT BOUGHT FROM A SHOP on my baby butt's was going to send me straight to a fiery grave in hell.

Hahahah.  Johnson's and Johnson's read it and weep!

So anyway on Friday with Jess and Rach looking on with interest I whipped up some baby wipes in about 10 minutes and I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING, it was fun!  I looked around on the internet to get a basic idea and then went from there.  Here's what I did,

1. Cut a paper towel roll in half width wise with a sharp, serrated knife.  (This for some reason made the girls giggle with excitement.  Look!  Mamma's gone mad and is cutting up kitchen stuff!  Weeeee!)  These will end up looking a bit bigger than a toilet roll. (Leave the cardboard core in).

2. Mix together the following:

• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 tbsp bath wash
• 2 tbsp baby lotion
• 1/2    tbsp vinegar (to help inhibit mold)

3. Pour the mix into two suitable containers with tight fitting lids.  They need to be airtight to stop the wipes from drying out.

4. Put the cut paper towel into the container and put on the lid.  After five minutes turn the container upside down so that the liquid spreads out evenly throughout the wipes.

5. Gently pull out the cardboard core (which is now nice and damp) and as you do a 'wipe' should pull out with it.

6. Whenever you need a wipe, pull one from the center and tear off at the perforation.

That's it!  Can you believe that I waited fiveyears before I made these?  The recipe that I used actually called for 4 cups water, 4 tblsp bath wash etc. but that yielded WAY too much liquid and I had to squeeze the paper towel to get all the excess moisture off.  If you have too much water at the bottom of your container andthe wipes are nice and damp I'd recommend doing the same.  I've been checking for mold and there is none so far, I made these five days ago so I'm hoping the vinegar is helping a little.  Having said that I don't imagine these would last for weeks on end.

The wipes I made smell divine and I added some essential oil to the mix.  I love the fact that I can know exactly what goes into these and I'm looking forward to running out so that I can make some more!

The real kicker in this story is that the bulk boxes of wipes we used to buy cost us $20 (that's for six packets).  We would go through one box every fortnight, so that's two boxes a month, times 12 months per year, times five years so far.

That's $2,400.

TWO THOUSAND, FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS.

Oh boy.  The fact that we spent that money unnecessarily makes me mad!

I'm working on February's change right now and it has involved a lot of research, a lot of free samples in the post and a lot of smelling to check that it's clean.  Curious?  Ha you'll have to wait!