Ask The Helpful Housewife

Another Day of Gratitude

Part of being able to love my "domestic duties" is my outlook on them. Yes, it does help that I have mild OCD which makes me despise clutter & dirt. Yes, it also helps that I like the satisfaction that comes with the sparkle after my home is in order. And yes, I am blessed to be fascinated by homekeeping books & experts.

But mostly it is my gratitude for what I have. My family is so important to me, and I want to care for them in the best way, in every way, possible. I am grateful for the home we have, whether modest or luxurious. I am grateful for what our hard work provides our family. So that drives me to care for it in a way that shows my pride and love.

So often I hear about how much the cleaning, the laundry, the cooking, and the shopping are hated "chores". Why not try to change your viewpoint and look at them as a privelege instead? In this economy especially, it can be healing and inspiring to look at these tasks as a luxury! How lucky we are to have homes to clean! Lucky to have clothes to launder, hot water to wash the dishes, food to cook...

Our attitudes when shifted to gratitude can drive us accomplish so much more! We can get our tasks done so much more quickly because we aren't plodding through them. And we are more inspired to add the little extra touches along the way to show our families how much we care.

With Thanksgiving almost upon us, it's the perfect time to shift our perspective...

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

THE Must Have Item This Fall...

 
 
 These bowls are simply amazing! Two years ago, my mom gave me 2 sets of these bowls for Christmas.  They come with matching plates that sit under them perfectly if you like.  Unfortunately, one broke, so this past Christmas, I asked for one more set of 4.  We use them ALL the time, so they are always in the dishwasher, and 4 more would be so handy in this family of six.  Well, bless her, she gave us 2 more sets instead, since we didn't want anything else!  We use these every. single. day.  No lie.  Every morning, they come out of the cupboard for cereal, oatmeal, or Malt O Meal.  At lunch I fill them with soup or mac and cheese.  At dinner they get used for chili or stew or any other hearty dish.  Even lasagna at times when it's extra gooey! And at night, Andy uses one for his evening ice cream indulgence!

These are so versatile. They are great for any occasion.  Put them on your registry.  Your birthday list.  Your Chrismas wish list.  Dishwasher and microwave safe.  Durable.  (Unless a 4 year old throws it in a sink a little TOO hard!) And a good basic white to match most any decor.  A bargain at $29 for a set of 4 bowls and 4 plates that will be a favorite for years and years!  And occasionally they go on sale, so watch for that, too.  Available at Williams-Sonoma stores and online. 

Tonight I'm using mine again... chicken chili is on the menu, along with home made rolls, veggies to crunch on, and home made hummus dip. And then later on tonight we'll use them for popcorn, the plates for donuts, and have cider while we watch a movie!
  

Honeycrisp Season! YUMMY!

What is the best thing about this time of year?  Just the fact this is the only time you can get Honeycrisp Apples!!!!!  OMG!!!!  Have you ever tasted one?  They are exactly as described... sweet as honey and oh-so-crisp!  They are the only red apples I will eat.  And I will eat them by the bushel.  And I do!  Because the season is so short, I gorge myself on them.  They are so divine.  And I do not bake with them.  It seems almost sacreligious to do so.  I will bake with MacIntosh apples any day. Those are the absolute best for apple crisp.  And Gala's or Paula Red's are perfect for apple pies.  But Honeycrisp's?  No.  They must be eaten as is. 

They crunch as you bite in.  The juice runs stickly down your chin.  The sweetness fills your mouth, without a hint of tartness.  It's like eating candy from nature.  Literally!  And I have a kitchen full of them.

My next stop?  Uncle John's Cider Mill in St. John's for fresh cider.  It's fall.  Cider is a must have around the bonfire!  Warm cider with a stick of cinnamon for stirring... so simple and yet so elegant.  Want to feel like Martha Stewart without the stick up your you-know-what?  Get some big, over-size mugs.  Pour warm cider in them.  Insert long stick of cinnamon.  Ouila!  Throw in a couple whole cloves and a sprinkle of fresh ground nutmeg and a squeeze of an orange wedge, and you can be Martha's overlord in mere seconds.  MUAHaaaahhaahaaaa!

With the fresh air coming through the windows in the kitchen (I don't care if it's chilly out - the sun is incredible, and the smell of leaves is amazing), pumpkins galore at the farmers market this week, and my favorite apples in abundance, life is good right now!  As long as it doesn't snow anytime soon...  And I have to go back to my second favorite apple, Granny Smith, and bundling up in snow gear. 

Are you in the mood for Autumn on this first day of October?

EcoStore USA Has Another Hit On Their Hands!!!

I know that I have told you before how much I absolutely love this company's product line, but EcoStore USA deserves yet another post about one of their proven winners!  Their Naturally Active Pure Oxygen Whitener has far surpassed my strict testing requirements!  Not only is it 100% natural and oh-so-gentle on mama earth, this stuff whitens like you wouldn't believe!  I love it!  

I tried it several ways.  First I used it on a load of regular whites, and then put them in the dryer.  They came out so nice and bright!  The dingies were gone!  Then, I washed a second load of whites that were a bit faded and greyed out, and hung them on the line.  Well, as you know, sunlight is a natural bleach for whites.  The combine power of the two was even more amazing!  It was like the scene in "Friends" when Ross had bleached his teeth!  No lie!  

It even brightened and whitened a load that had accidently had a red beach towel mixed in with it... have I convinced you yet?  And it only takes a tablespoon or two in a load!  Talk about economical.  I've tried OxyClean.  That stuff is garbage as far as I'm concerned.  It has never done a thing it promised.  Not one.  But this product has me sold forever!  Go get some.  Right now.  And you can even get a coupon for it to use at Meijer.  Save almost $8 when you go to Coupon.com, type your zip code and print out the Meijer coupon.  It is under household products.  What could be better?!?!?!

The Glass Is Half Full!

OK, first the glass jar has to be empty!  What do you do with your empty jam/jelly jars when you make that last sandwich for the kids?  Way to go if the answer is recycle them!  Or what about the jar of spaghetti sauce you used last night?  Or the glass soda bottles that are so in vogue right now that come filled with all those natural, organic fizzy fun flavors?  Recycle them?  Throw them away? 

First of all, don't throw them in the trash.  Obviously, you need to be recycling them.  That's a no brainer.  Mother earth would be scolding you, wagging her finger in your face the whole time.  But what if I could give you some ideas to prolong their life?  I do this all the time!  I love to re-use my glass jars.  So much so, that I often buy a different brand at the store just because I think the jar is pretty!  (My husband just shakes his head and goes back to whatever he's doing.  He's learned to ignore my quirks in this department!)  Glass jars and bottles can be stunning accents to your decor, and they can also be very utilitarian in other ways.  Some of these examples are going to be so obvious and repeated from so many other sources you will be bored silly, I know.  But some others might be ideas you hadn't thought of.  Humor me!  You just might think twice before tossing that next jar!  It could have a second or third "repurposed life" before being recycled into another gem of glassware, keeping mother earth even happier!  Just remember to thoroughly wash and dry before doing any of the following...

1.  An especially decorative jar makes a great vase for smaller flowers from your garden.
2.  Use it to hold buttons and sewing notions.
3.  Create a sewing kit:  a spool of white, black, and cream thread; small scissors; several needles; and a threader.  Be sure to keep the lid for this one!
4.  Keep a large jar by the washing machine to throw change from pockets in!
5.  Use one for storing the miscellaneous Barbie shoes, doll accessories, lego pieces and such that you find as time goes on.  You never know when the matching one will turn up!
6.  Fill one 1/2 full with baking soda, and 1/4 full with salt. Add 20-30 drops of your favorite essential oil.  Stir it well.  Pop some holes in the lid and replace the lid on the top.  Put it in a concealed area, and you have an instant air freshener for any small room.  Works great near a diaper channging area!  Just keep it out of baby's reach.
7.  Use it to hold diaper pins, with the lid securely fastened, away from baby.
8.  I use a really pretty one to hold my honey dipper and my tea bag "squeezer" in my kitchen.
9.  If you have some especially decoratively cut jars, or some pretty blue ones that really sparkle, set them out on a tray as a decorative accent.  In sunlight, it can be spectacuar!
10.  We use a super large blue Ball Canning jar to hold pop can tabs.  We save them and when the jar is full, we transfer it to a zip-loc bag (it fills one!) and take them down to the local VFW and turn them in for their charity drive.
11.  Handymen/women can use them to hold screws, nails, nuts, bolts, anything that needs containing in the workshop.
12.  Crafters can use them for glue sticks, trims, tools, marking pens, rotary cutters, scissors, just about anything!
13.  I store dried beans, peas, etc in them, rather than in the bags they come in.  They store better on the pantry shelves and I don't have to go buy all new storage containers!
14.  I also use one to hold cupcake tin liners.  Perfect purpose!
15.  The best use of all?  I keep my dish washing wand in one on the kitchen sink!

I hope some of these suggestions are helpful to you!  It keeps a little more glass out of the landfills, and helps extend the lifecycle of those items already produced.  Let's all do our part to keep trying to find new uses for items around the house!

Happy Dusting,
The Helpful Housewife

Making Your Laundry Room Work For You

I get a lot of hits on this blog relating to google searches for laundry room tips.  You all know how much I adore ironing, and even the laundry is a task I really don't mind doing.  Here's the secret to why:  a well organized laundry room!  Even if you don't have an actual laundry room, an area dedicated to this task helps trememdously.  I don't technically have a laundry room in my home.  It's more of an all-purpose back entry area.  It's closed off from the kitchen by a pocket door, but it has the hook ups for a washer/dryer and a built in laundry sink.  By default?  It's a laundry room/mud room/entry way/utility room.  I actually hate the layout, but I've made the best of it.  So today I'm going to share it with you, and maybe you can gain some ideas from what I've done to streamline and organize your own laundry spaces.

Remember my post regarding the family information center?  This is a bigger snapshot of the wall it's located on.  It's where we come and go 99% of the time, so it makes the most sense for us.

As you can see in the photo below, we installed shelving above the washer & dryer to keep laundry supplies close at hand.  It works rather well to be able to just reach straight out for stain removers, or to set items on the shelf that are found in pockets.  It also keeps things from getting lost behind the appliances!

 

In this next photo, you can see how I store my daily cleaning supplies in their caddy right on the counter top to keep them easily accessible.  The laundry soap is also right there in the blue caddy where I can just scoop it out as I need it.  The counter top is usually clear, but today I have some things there that need to be delivered in an errand later.  The counter does come in handy, though!

 

Over the sink, I have installed a fold out drying rack.  In the summer it's great for the swim suits, and year round I use it for delicates and hand wash items.  The clothespin bag is hung across from it.  In the cabinet I keep my dust rags, extra rubber gloves, cleaning supplies, sponges, scrubbers, and the sunblock/insect repellent.  Also a first aid kit and the shoe polish, so the kids dont' get into it!

 

This is the view coming in from the garage.  These hooks keep us organized on school mornings.  We always know where the backpacks and coats are!  Plus, it keeps them up off the floor so we aren't tripping over them all the time, and the kids can hang them up themselves.  There would be one more set, but Attie is still at school right now!  I also keep my cleaning smock hanging on the last hook here so I can just toss it on whenever I need to.

 

And here's the view from the sink towards the pocket door to the kitchen.  This is how our wierd and awkward room manages to have so many different functions yet work so well for us.  Because it is so organized, it is a useful space.  Laundry is easy to do here, and our lives are organized because of the other tools in place like the calendar area and the hooks.  It is a multifunctional room.  Even the closet next to the hooks -- we took out the rod and put in a shelving system and created a pantry/utility closet.  Only a few panty items are stored here; mostly trash bags, the blender, extra picnic wares, and the vacuum, broom, etc. are kept in it.  But making it functional makes it work for us, not against us!

 

It's even painted a sunny yellow to make it bright and cheerful.  Although I am considering repainting it a bright bright white... will have to simmer that thought for a while.

So, there's another glimpse into The Helpful Housewife's home.  I hope I can inspire you to improve upon my ideas in your own cozy homes!

Roman Family CIA

What is the Roman Family CIA?  It stands for the Calendar Information Area!  Every family is busy these days, and every family needs their own method for keeping everyone on track for appointments, practices, events, and other scheduled activities.  There are unlimited ways to organize your own family to keep everyone up to date, but I wanted to show you what works for us.  It isn't the end all and be all answer for everyone.  If you already have a working system, that's wonderful!  Heck, I'd love for you to share it with me!  I'm always looking for new ideas to fine tune my own systems or to refresh our lives to find a new and better way of doing things.  And I would love to pass along new ideas to readers.  If you don't have a system in place, perhaps mine could be a jumping off point for you to create your own.  The idea is to just get motivated to get your family coordinated so that you don't double-book appointments, miss events, or just plain get overwhelmed with it all.  When you can see at a glance what's going on when some one calls to plan a playdate, it makes it all so much easier.

Here's the overall view of our system, and I'll describe each component and how to put it in place:

 

This is our main information center of the home.  (Sorry for the fuzzy photo!) It's in the laundry room.  Our back door coming in from the garage is here, and the room is the entry into the kitchen.  It's where we come and go every time we leave or come home.  It's the most logical choice for us for location.  To construct it was very inexpensive.  The background is made up of 12" x 12" cork tiles that you can buy in any store in the office supply aisle.  I simply tacked them to the wall with tiny little nails.  The bottom 2 rows are 3 across, and the top row only has 2 tiles.  In the upper right corner, I hung a very inexpensive mail organizer/key rack purchased at Target years ago.  I think it was $14?  The big calendar is a blank desk calendar, again purchased for a couple bucks in the same aisle as the cork tiles.  I fill in my own month and dates with a marker.  I just tacked it up with thumbtacks to the cork tiles!  Easy as pie!

In this next photo we have the family calendar.  This is the most important item in this area.  I have used different colored markers to keep it easier to read.  I make sure to immediately put any items on the calendar so that we always know what we have coming up for each member of the family.  I also make sure to illustrate the holidays for the kids, so that they can "read" the calendar, too!  They like to be able to count down and have reference points.  Having the calendar located here also keeps us in check as we walk out the door.  We can see one last time before we leave what we have going on so that we don't miss anything or make plans when we're out that might conflict. 

 

The section above the family calendar is also helpful.  We hang our keys here so they don't get lost.  I store my return address labels here; the markers for the calendar are always within reach.  The school calendar and monthly cafeteria menu are posted.  And any miscellaneous small papers that I might need are either clipped to a pinch clip here or tucked into the mail slot.  I also have a laundry chart card tacked to the board for reference.  It does come in handy!

 

In this last section we keep some other miscellaneous but pertinent information for the family.  I do have a second calendar.  It was a freebie from my alma mater, Carthage College, and it is handy for looking ahead in the year rather than trying to manueuver the big family calendar.  We also have specific classroom information, bus schedules, and our family rules posted here for all the kids to see.  That's a big one in our house -- if the rules are there for them to look at, they can't say they didn't know them! 

 

As you can see, it's not high tech.  It isn't a huge server with touch screen monitors installed in each room of the house, and fingerprint identification encryption blah blah blah... it's good old fashioned marker and paper.  Sometimes simple can work!  It's what works for us.  And I carry a planner system in my purse.  Yes, my cell phone has calendar capabilities, but I love the pen and paper system.  It's just me!  But then again, I still write letters and postcards, and I love to put little notes in lunch boxes.  Don't get me wrong.  I don't save paper.  I don't hoard junk mail and old bills and stuff.  I just still am an afficiando of the handwritten form of communication.  I don't have a blackberry, because my Franklin Planner still serves it's purpose! 

So, do what works for you.  But do something!  Organization is key in this day and age to keep our homes running smoothly and happily!  It will keep the stress levels lower, too.  Trust me!

Happy Earth Day!

Earth day is the perfect day to introduce you to a new product and some information about washing dishes!  Because you know the Helpful Housewife loves anything that has to do with the kitchen and making life easier for us all, as well as making it environmentally friendly along the way. 

As a general rule of thumb, I'm not a huge fan of paper plates and paper towels unless they are post consumer  recycled content, they are compostable, or you are going to actually recycle them.  Of course, in a pinch, they are a great invention!  And there are some great companies out there, such as Seventh Generation, that make products that I do support and purchase because of their ethic and mission.  As for washing your regular dishes, did you know that a dishwasher is actually BETTER for the environment than washing by hand?  But only if it is an energy star rated appliance and you run it only when it's full?  You actually use less water with the dishwasher!  (And less work & time by you, too.)  And if you use one of the green dishwasher detergents, you are making an even better choice for mother earth.  But if you have an older dishwasher that isn't an energy star rated appliance, opt for the handwashing scenario.  Just don't run the water constantly, and wash a sink full, not a dish here and there.  Maximize to minimize.

The product I promised you the other day, and at the beginning of this post, is a brand new product called EarthShell Dinnerware, and right now it is on sale at Meijer stores 2/$4.  If you must use disposable plates or bowls, try these!  They are biodegradable, heavy duty, soakproof, grease resistant, cut resistant, and -- get this! -- microwave safe!  They are actually made from vegetable starch and limestone.  They even come in a biodegradable bag!  After dinner you can take your kitchen scraps out to the compost bin in the bag or on the plates and just toss the whole kit and caboodle in the bin!  No mess, no muss!  How wonderful is that? 

They list a website on their packaging for www.earthshell.com, but it isn't up and running yet.  If you click here, you'll be taken to their current webpage that lists their information and additional links to more information on their products.  You can even order in bulk if you really fall in love with their plates and bowls!  And did you know that shopping online is actually good for the earth?  When you buy in bulk and have it shipped like that, the packaging is actually reduced; the carbon emissions are definitely reduced because it's combined in the shipments of millions of other people who are placing orders all over the world from any number of companies and is simply in the transportation chain along with the other packages; and you are buying what you want, and not purchasing those impulse things at the checkout lane that just end up in the landfill!

Anyway, a big 2 thumbs up for EarthShell Dinnerware!  And it's on sale right now at Meijer stores for Earth Day, through this Saturday...

An Earth Day Special Promotion to pass along to you...

Again, I'm going to wax poetic on the virtues of using earth friendly products!  And one of the sources I've used over and over to get some of my favorites is  Shop Organic, an online mecca of sustainable and organic cleaners, foods, and other items.  Right now they are running a special coupon offer at their website.  You need a coupon code to use it though!  When you spend $25, you get your choice of TWIST products free!  These incredible cleaning cloths/sponges are wonderful to use, and respect the planet at the same time.  It's a great offer, especially if you've never heard of the Twist line before.  I really like them.  They make my cleaning projects and daily routines much easier and more enjoyable.  And I hear even Martha Stewart has a few in her cleaning bucket for those of you who worship at the altar of Martha.  Personally, I don't, but hey - to each their own! Anyway, click on these links and check them out.  If you decide to take advantage of the offer, the coupon code is:  EARTHDAY9.  You MUST enter this code to get the offer.  I recommend signing up for the Shop Organic newsletter, too.  They have great information, along with good sales, coupons, and offers!

  

Monday Morning Musings & A Product Review

(There are a lot of different topics to my thoughts, so please read all the way down -- even if you don't drink coffee!  You might really want to see what comes next!)

I'm in heaven right now.  Have I mentioned yet that my in-laws introduced me to cold brewed coffee?  OK, here's the back story.  Bear with me, because I will eventually have a point today!  Over Christmas, Gary & Diane went on a 6 week trip.  The bulk of that trip was in Peru.   They went specifically to see Machuu Pichuu (spelled wrong, I know, but I'm not a retired globe trotter!).  While they were travelling in this gorgeous country, they ordered coffee.  The first time, they were totally confused when a girl poured this dark liquid into a cup and then added boiling water.  Much to their amazement it was the perfect cup of coffee!  Fast forward to our vacation at their house over spring break.  Our first morning there, they made us a cup of coffee in the morning.  Now, Andy and I are complete foodies.  We are addicted to "Top Chef", Food Network, great restaurants, and experimenting in the kitchen.  Anthony Bourdain is our hero. So of course we were curious as to what was going on, but very excited to try this new drink.

After one sip, I was online ordering my own cold brew system.  And I love it!  The coffee is absolutely incredible!  There is no acidity, no heartburn later in the day, no icky bottom of the cup after taste.  It's like drinking cocoa, but with coffee flavor!  It's smooth and delicious right down to the last sip, and trust me you are draining that cup!  And once you brew a carafe of it, it lasts up to 2 weeks in the frig!  And a cup of coffee is ready in the time it takes to heat up the tea kettle, not the ages it takes for your coffee maker to brew.  I can't drink regular coffee anymore.  I just can't go back!  Want to know where to get it?  Here!  Just click!  Toddy Cafe.com website has the system...   It really does brew the perfect cold coffee, and comes with a recipe book and is easy to use!  Affordable, and convenient.  LOVE IT!!!!  And I highly recommend it!

 

 

Another thought on my mind is family information organization.  I am going through kindergarten roundup this week, as well as preschool registration for the last child.  It occurred to me as I am pulling all of my paperwork together that I haven't shared some of these tips with you!  One of the biggies is my family binder!  I have a three-ring binder with plastic page protecters in it that holds everything we need in one place, such as immunization records, birth certificates, and other necessary items.  I keep them there all the time so whenever I need them for events such as these or soccer sign ups or other such things, they are always right where I can put my hands on them.   It has made me really think that I need to dedicate an entire post to how to put one of these together.  Hmmmm...  It will be coming shortly!

And what about the family calendar?  I'm going to do a post this week about our family organization center.  It's actually in our laundry room, by the back door.  We have a wall of communication!  It's just some cork tiles attached to the wall with a big calendar and a mail center, but you have to see it!  It's just one suggestion to help keep your family on track.  I'm going to show you how we do it, and hopefully you can expand on it with your own creativity to make your own base of operations!  I get so many hits on my post regarding my linen closet that I know you are all very eager to get more organization tips.  I'm listening!

And I've got another product review coming this week, too!  Keep watching!

Now, I've got to head out to pick up the twins from preschool.  Enjoy your day, and wear your cheeriest apron!  It's rainy and dismal here, so a nice bright apron and some cookies in the oven this afternoon will be just the thing to make it feel so much happier and sunny than the weather would indicate!

Happy dusting,

The Helpful Housewife