Resource Review- Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it

I love looking at cook books. Seeing all the pretty pictures of food. Thinking about what it would be like to eat that yummy food. But I rarely actually try a new recipe. We stick with our favorites and slight variations on them. If I do want to try a new recipe, I generally opt for the children's books! The recipes are easy to follow and I usually have all the ingredients on hand.

I've recently discovered a book entitiled "Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it" by Karen Solomon. The twelve chapters in this book will give you different methods of making your own foods and preserving them. Each recipe comes with very clear instructions, including the time involved for the project and prep ahead instructions. But not just recipes are included in this book. There are reference pages that will give you direction in how to can produce, how to smoke meat on your grill, and how to make your own cheese press!

The big question when starting on make it yourself project is if there is actually a cost savings. I've done some rough calculating before starting many projects and have discovered that the answer's not easy. Making something myself is generally less expensive than the comparable store-bought version, but more expensive than the cheaper products I tend to by. Bread for example. Making a yummy whole wheat bread myself is cheaper than purchasing a high-quality bread from store or bakery, but it is time consuming. However, I usually buy cheaper bread at a discount bread store, and that is much less expensive and less time consuming! Since the quality of that bread is fine, that's what I usually do! If you buy your products in bulk or on sale, that also reduces your home-making costs. Ultimately, I'll try just about anything once or twice, as long as there isn't a huge expense of equipment. And if it's fun and much better, we'll keep doing it!

Canning is a whole other ball-game. There's an initial expense in equipment (or you can try freecycle, which is how I got dozens of jars for free!) and using a large pasta pot will work for the water bath method while you're trying to figure it out. Canning produce from your garden or homemade jam is a great way to feed your garden goodies to your family throughout the year. It also makes great gifts. Think about it. Everyone would look at you funny if you gave your child's teacher a can of green beans as a Christmas gift. But if it's green beans you canned from your garden with a pretty bow on it, suddenly it's a great gift!

If you're looking for a book that will show you how to make marshmallows, or your own ravioli, I highly recommend "Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it." Let me know what you think!

Resource Review- House Works

Do you know how to clean your house, I mean really clean your house? Or are you and your family up to your eyeballs in piles of paper and heaps of toys? Do you roll your eyes at people who dust their ceiling fans because that is the least of your worries? Me too! I think I'm cleaning-impaired. I know I need help. I have loved utilizing the methods from Sink Reflections in my life and have seen some amount of success over the past couple of years.

House Works by Cyntia Ewer is a great resource for any home, but especially those who have trouble in the cleaning area. The brightly colored pictures inspire me to raise my standards. The before and after pictures of clutter areas help to see how it can be done. There are lists for things to include in your pantry and how long typical items are good for. My personal favorite is the step by step instructions for folding a fitted sheet! With pictures and everything!

Ms Ewer starts the book by examining different clutter personalities. Everyone has stuff that can't bare to get rid of, but do you know why you keep it in your house? I have learned that I am a combination of the hoarder and the perfectionist. Knowing this about myself and having some tips on how to combat my natural tendencies, I will hopefully be able to more thoroughly rid my home and life of the clutter. This first section includes tips for organizing your home, instruction on how to clean like a pro, and a chapter devoted to helping you maintain a structure for ensuring these jobs are done.

The second half of the book takes you through some of the biggies of our home- food, clothing, paperwork, and more. Everything starts with a plan. What is that you actual need and use? What's the best method for storing the items in your home? How do you keep it from becoming cluttered again? All of these questions are answered in a simple logical format. Each page is one tip or idea and makes it so easy to flip through the book and pick one thing to implement today.

I started reading this book last week and have been struck by one particular phrase. "Things should be harder to take out than they are to put away." This will revolutionize the way I think about storage. If it's difficult to take something out family members (especially kids) won't take it out unless they really want it. If it's easy to put away, then clean up is a snap! I'll be going through the kids' rooms and things and keeping this principle in mind as I reorganize their storage space. I'm thinking this will be a useful principle to apply to my desk space, as well!

Has the spring cleaning bug bitten you, yet? What's a space in your home that's a cleaning or organizational nightmare?

Mine is the kids' clothes. We have two dressers packed to the gills for the four kids, and no space for another dresser once the baby moves into their room. The closet is used for out of season, out of size clothing storage with some hanging space reserved for the girls' dresses. Any tips or suggestions for me?

Spring Has Sprung

With spring comes sunshine and beautiful flowers. Open windows and a desire to clean. That's what I've been doing these past two weeks. How about you? I feel like I could be cleaning all day every day and not really make much progress. It takes almost all of my energy just to maintain our household, let alone add in some closet cleaning and pile dumping. But I'm tired of the clutter and ready to get it out of my house. And I wanted it done yesterday.

My kids are good helpers for a little while, but eventually they need their attention turned to something else. So, I'm stuck doing most of the work myself while my kids are playing and messing up a recently cleaned up bedroom. I'm reading a new book right now and a phrase keeps popping out at me: "It should be harder to take out than it is to put away." I'm trying to figure out what that means in my home. The example given is to use a tub for books instead of a shelf. Kids need to flip through the stack until the find one they want, then they just slide it back in when done. We have tubs for the kids toys- small ones for cars and wooden blocks and larger ones for kitchen toys and baby dolls. I thought that these were easy enough to put away. Maybe it's hard because they tend to use the blocks to make buildings and roads, then they each have a couple dozen cars and animals out as well. That's a big job to clean up no matter how easy the work is!

I love reading books about cleaning and organizing. My favorite so far has been Sink Reflections. I'm reading another one right now that's looking really good. What are your favorite resources for keeping your home in order? How does your spring cleaning system work? What jobs do you wish you had the time and energy to tackle?

How to Get a New House Without Moving

I love my house, really I do. We live across the street from a park. We have a living room and a tv room, which is pretty cool. The bedrooms are HUGE. It's about fifteen years old, which means that we don't have a lot of repairs to make. But it also means there's not a lot of character. We have a townhouse, which is great because it takes about forty minutes to mow. But it also means there's not a lot of room for the kids to play.

Periodically, I look at houses that are listed online and I dream about moving. I love seeing the different styles of houses, and what the lay-out is. I would love to have some land for the kids to run and have some animals and a garden. I can become quite discontent with what I currently have and where we live.

Recently I realized what it is I like about looking at those pictures. I love that they're all clean! The paint isn't in need of a touch-up. The dishes are all done. The toys are all put away. The table tops are not buried under mountains of stuff. There are not boxes of more stuff piled in corners. I had a revelation. I don't need a new house, I need to get the junk out of the one that I have! A new house appeals to me because of the thought of everything being fresh and clean. Well, I can replicate that here!

So I have been on a mission this week. The kitchen is being cleaned and organized. Stuff is being thrown out. (I have done this to the kitchen before, so this was an easier room to start with.) I will progress through each room until all of my stuff has been gone through and determined if we really need it. I'm dreading the closet that goes under the stairs and the decisions that will need to be made with that stuff... But I'm looking forward to a clutter-free home. Here is the main "working" counter. You can see how cluttered it was in the above picture behind my son's head. :) I moved my mixer and blender under the cabinets and got rid of a few items that have been stored (and not used). It's actually been fun to clean up after dinner this week!

I'm excited to see where this takes me and my family. Already, the kitchen feels lighter and airier. It's pleasant to be in there whether I'm working or resting. I can't wait for that calm, relaxing atmosphere to overtake my entire home! Do you have any other tricks for making your house the home you want to live in? I'd love to hear them!

Works-for-Me Wednesday Cleaning Rotation

House cleaning. We all hate it. We've all got to do it. We all need a system to get it done. One would think that my system would change over the years as more kids and responsibilities are added, but I've realized that the basics have stayed in place. Apparently, it's working for me!


There are certain things that should be done daily. For most of us this includes dishes and sweeping the kitchen. There may be more. You know what they are in your house. Then there are things that don't need to be done each day, but are more of a weekly or monthly job. These often include things like vacuuming and changing sheets. So, start with making lists of what needs to be cleaned in each room, and how often it should be done. Then take a look at your schedule and determine what you can actually accomplish.

Then set up a cleaning rotation. Assign each room a certain day of the week to get tackled. You'll find that there may be a room that needs more attention. For me, it's the kitchen and bathrooms. It turns out these are daily chores in my household! A weekly job like the living room gets assigned a day (Monday) and on that day everything gets picked up, goodies are pulled out from under furniture, vacuuming is done. If there's extra time, I might tackle some extras for that room- vacuuming under the cushions, dusting the bookshelves, or whatnot. 


It's also important to get the kids involved in the cleaning. My kids are responsible for daily jobs- cleaning up their room, setting and clearing the table, putting their toys away. I'm excited about the book Managers of Their Chores and getting my kids set up on their own system. It's similar to what I do already, but it's organized in a kid-friendly manner. 


Check out other great tips at We Are THAT Family.