Ultra Organized Kitchen Part 1

I wanna share about how I'm being frugal with our grocery bills while, keeping my sanity in the tiny, and dated kitchen that I'm working with LOL

xo

1. Only buy what you truly use. Keep it simple. I know we love to try new recipes that call for random ingredients, but don't! Like Pearl and Serene say, "what's your sweats?!" If you are craving for an exotic dish - eat out. If you make exotic dishes all of the time, well, these are your "mundane and simple" ingredients.

As a mother of a larger crowd, I need to keep things pretty basic. Basic doesn't mean bland. I've gathered our favourite meals and their ingredients and that's that!

2. Lazy Susans! Not only do they prevent you from stacking your cupboards full of random bags and boxes, they help you access the ingredients you have, too! I have one next to my stove for utensils, cooking oil and spices as well.

3. Don't label your products unless you're seriously suffering from dementia. There really is no need to. It's "visual noise", I don't care how pretty it looks like, just don't. 
By keeping your products to a limit, you can tell the difference between the ingredients, trust me. If you still want to, use labels that you can erase like chalk board stickers. I got mine long time ago, before I realized, in my case, it was a waste of time.

4. Keep spices that you use more often, closer. I got my home made seasoning mixes in previous spice tubs I've purchased, and I use them OFTEN. They are so versatile & used in many different types of recipes. I love simplifying spices by mixing them together.

Firstly, if a recipe calls for e.g garlic, onion and salt - what's the danger of adding a little bit of parsley in there too? Hence, the Ranch seasoning mix!

Secondly, do you really want to open 4 to 7 spice tubs, when you can cut the hassle in half or even more? I guess I don't...?? 😒

Thirdly, organize your spices by "themes".

Not only does this save you money!! But it keep your life a bit less chaotic. Especially your kitchen.

Anyone else on instagram sharing their journey???

The Struggle Is Real -2016

I know that women in developing countries have serious struggles of their own, but can you imagine what our struggles might look like in their eyes?

• Having to endlessly pick up after our kids around the house, I can't take it!
• You can't find your shoes, where are your socks??!
• I'm having to trip over stuff to get to where I am going!
• The sink is overflowing of dishes, again.
• This (food) is out of date, ugh!  my life is so hard!
• The laundry just keeps on piling, I can't keep up with it..:(
• Who left all of the books strewn all over the floor, -pick them up!!?
• It's been nonstop all day for me, I just need to take a bath.

I could go on and on with our "struggles" but the more I think about it, the more ashamed I am. Oh the guilt! So, I'm turning my shame into motivation to seriously purge my home.

I feel like I'm always purging my home. Is it just me or does anyone else seem to be donating boxes or bags of stuff after a huge purging episode?? I swear, the enemy knows my weaknesses. After 8 bags of purging, feeling that much lighter and free, someone brings me boxes of hand me downs of stuff. The hoarder within me, says "yeah, sure I'll have a look!" and guess what, EVERYTHING has potential. I should learn. If I can't see it, I won't miss it and even if I see it, I probably will not miss it. A fact.

How then do I de-itemize my home for good and is "for good" even a realistic expectation? Looking up at those struggles listed, could I swap those struggles for things that matter eternally? Let me break them down for us.

1. Having to endlessly pick up after our kids around the house, I can't take it! Our homes in westernized countries are so full of stufffffff. We think we need it, we hoard it, we save it, stack it, storage it and we keep accumulating more stuff. I cannot even wrap my head around the sum of $$ we would save, if we were not so easily swept away with things. The things we buy, we end up purging anyway sooner or later. The things we own, end up binding us, they end up owning us in one way or another. We lose precious time for instance, we become around the clock cleaners, maintainers, and hunters (hunts for the missing {insert here}!).. It robs us from time for ourselves, as mothers. Our kids go to bed and you have so much to prep for in order to survive the next day, and then you're done for the day. Would you not want to curl up and read your favourite book? Read those blog posts that you bookmarked for a quiet moment? Could this be your quiet moment, where you work on a project you've been thinking about for months? Does motherhood and you time have to be a balancing act? Can it not just be the journey you are on and there is no seperation of the two? How would it be, if instead of STRIVING, we could be THRIVING in the coming days? Would the shouts and arguments over toys scattered around the home be swapped into talks and cuddles and outdoor walks? What steps must we take, in today's society and the areas we live in to make this a reality? 
2. You can't find your shoes, where are your socks!? How many pairs of shoes does one child, never mind woman have? YES, there can be too many shoes. This is a nuisance in my home. My kids never seem to find their shoes, always one shoe missing. I see them trying to leave the house with sandals in the middle of winter, and it drives me bonkers! "Where are your shoes?!" How many pairs do kids need, as they are growing up fast anyway, and don't get a chance to enjoy them long enough? A few "shoe cultures" I admire are the Finnish and Koreans. Finns never walk inside the home with their shoes on and leave them beside the front door. Koreans always seem to take their shoes off in the most respectful way possible. Say what? Yes, have you ever seen anyone place their shoes away in such a symmetrical manner, I have! Koreans :) If I had the shoes I need, (which I actually have fewer than I "need"), my kids would live by example. If they had just the right amount of shoes for designated weather, they would be lost or mistreated, especially when you have multiple kids! I can't help but think of Little House On The Prairie, when the girls would cherish everything they had as it was gold. Their corn husk dolls, special laced up shoes.. polished, ready for school. Could we adapt that mentality? How can we, when we live in this society. how can we fight the strong winds of today's capitalism and pass that onto our children? I'm talking about shoes, but this goes for every piece of clothing.
3. I'm having to trip over stuff to get to where I am going! What would your life look like if you were not swayed by Walmart or Pinterest? Would you walk into a temple instead of a westernized, asthma risk house? Would our homes be a place of rest and worship? Would you be aware of your surroundings, instead of being drowned in visual noise? Picture this for a moment...What would your home look like? I have purged so much, yet I still have too much stuff I have a hard time parting with. I guess I don't have the answer for that, yet. Yet.
4. The sink is overflowing of dishes, again. Well, how many dishes do we need? Most of us have a dishwasher, how crazy is that. We tend to talk about how back in the day, they had house servants, and how we have to do everything by ourselves. Well, we have house servants too! We got a dishwasher, laundry machines, most of us have a coffee maker, fridge, the endless kitchen appliances - list yours! We even have a vacuum cleaner! How cool is that! A machine that sucks up dust and bits and good Lord, is that not a praise worthy privilege? Not to forget, the toilet! We have running water, electricity.. it's just mind blowing when I think of the stuff we have, yet we moan about our "load". Can you picture that the developing world mothers face, when she sees your list of "servants"? Embarrassing! Turning my shame into motivation-turning my shame into inspiration! What can we do, to own less dishes. Every dish has a story, a potential- how can we minimize our cupboards? Keep on purging, I know I'll get there! And, so will you!
5. This (food) is out of date, ugh!  my life is so hard! I read this thing on the "time-wasting-book" page once, "When I buy a lettuce, I usually bin it right away. Saves me doing it in a weeks time".. I chuckled, but it's so true! Not only do we have this gadget in the kitchen that keeps our food fresh, we forget about our food. We take the food for granted in some way or form. Take the time to look at this video below. I'm on a mission. I would like to go back to basics with 'food'. Simplify the ingredients and the source of food, so that it gets the respect it deserves. Genesis 1:29 and 2:9 and much much more... Read the THM Plan book!! HERE is my aff'link, check it out! (For those who do not know, this is the reason for my cleared up complexion! read about it HERE) 
6. The laundry just keeps on piling, I can't keep up with it..:( So my girlfriend and I were daydreaming about what our laundry piles would look like if all of our kids and us, had 2-4 sets of clothes. The loads would be smaller, and it would be a small load to carry (ha ha pun intended!). The kids wouldn't get bored, they're growing kids! The turn over would still happen, correct? And, we would always have something to wear! No longer would we have mismatch items, speaking gibberish to us. It would all make sense.
7. Who left all of the books strewn all over the floor, -pick them up!!? Sometimes I catch my kids using the books in their plays, as chairs or whatever. They're on the floor instead of where they belong. I hate the fact that the baby gets a book and manages to rip out a page or two. A lot of book mending going on in my home, it sorrows me. I love books. Books used to be irreplaceable. Now we get most of our information online. I would like to keep this art very much alive in my home. The smell of pages when you open the book, I love it! How can we, in today's tech savvy world, pass on these things to our kids? Put them behind locked doors, watch over them as they read -not in my house hold. Is this just a lazy-mother syndrome, or do you see where I am going with this? I cannot stand over them and watch them put away each book. Is there another way to pass on the value of books on to my kids?
8. It's been nonstop all day for me, I just need to take a bath.  What if we didn't have all the stuffff to do everyday that having a moment to yourself that gets interrupted, wasn't such a big deal after all? Get what I am saying?

Thoughts??? Please do share!

Savour the Christmas Season - Gingerbread houses

We are savouring the Christmas Season by making our very own gingerbread houses. We had a blast making these, you'll see why! The end result is a killer!

I had ginger bread cookie cutters to begin with so I can't help with the design, but I can share the recipe which I altered for my "Finnish" taste buds. The mollases we get here (in Canada) isn't anything like we get back in Finland, so I had to make a few changes. I think it worked out well and tastes like the real deal. Almost.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 C molasses
• 1/4 C maple syrup
• 250g butter
• 1 C sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1tsp ground cloves
• 2tsp cinnamon
• 2tsp ginger
• 1T lemon juice/ 1tsp pomersanssin kuorta
• 3-4 C flour
• 2 tsp baking soda

Insturctions:

•  In a sauce pan bring butter, molasses, syrup amd spices to the boil, remove and let cool completely. Mix in eggs, flour and baking soda. Cover and let it harden over night in the fridge.

• Take small sections and roll them out flat with a little flour. If you find the dough too hard, warm it up in the micro 30seconds at a time

•  Cut out the parts for the house and place them carefully on a parchment sheet covered baking tin. Bake at 400F for 6-8minutes. Melt sugar in a sauce pan and use as "glue" by dipping the pieces in to assemble them. The melted sugar hardens fast, so be quick. Be careful you don't burn your fingers with the melted sugar, it hurts!

 VOILA!

•  Let the kids decorate, have a go yourself. Be creative, use colours, texture...

 We gave it our best, we really did. We ended up doing three houses that were just as pretty. Ha ha!

Savour the Christmas Season -Snow Paint

Today we savoured the xmas season by painting the snow. Fantastic! I just mixed up water and food colouring and filled up the empty icing bottles.

DIY Create-a-Meal Fridge Magnets -Homeschool

Here they are! DIY Create-a-Meal Fridge Magnets, by Cathy Rose! The coolest thing ever! :) What a great way to be creative, meal plan, and teach your kids how to create healthy wholesome meals. This is how I made them.

You'll need

• scissors
• card stock
• small magnets (elmer's)
• sharpie, colours
• creativity and inspiration (you ALL got some!)
• laminating sheets and a laminator (borrow one!)
• double sided tape
• a fridge :)

1. I  made a list of the foods we eat. I kept it as healthy as I could, this way we automatically plan good nutritious meals for the whole family. I just started drawing, nothing fancy, just plain lines and even gave my veg faces!

No rush with the drawings. You can't think of the meals all at once, take your time, even days.

2. Name them and colour them in. And again, let your kids do the colouring, no stress.

3. Cut out the pictures and laminate.

4. Cut out the pictures. Stick the pictures and magnets together by using double sided tape.

Teach your kids how to create healthy meals, using a correct food pyramid. 

 

(I.P stands for "ILTAPALA" which means evening snack/bite in Finnish)

VOILA!

Need help in creating healthy meals? Check out my recipes here!

Need help finding an healthy food pyramid? Click here!

Don't forget to ENTER to WIN A FREE BOOK!

Gardening 2013 Part 3

In this post you'll read about the new scary addition to our vegetable patch and about how we made a SAFE fungicide and pesticide.

Well, we have had a few set backs. Sigh! One, is the thieving crows and two, is the mildew growing on my zucchini plants.

Set backs, set back, but very educating ones. Firstly, I've needed to expand the little knowledge that I have on gardening, and secondly we get to build our very own custom made scare crow!

The weather has not been the best, little sun and lots of rain. It looks like my garden has taken a long pause and my pea plants have not grown a millimeter since I transplanted them. BIG sigh.

There is not much I can do, but to wait. Wait for the sun, hope the crows stay away and hope I can save my plants from mildew.

Two ways to fight fungus (mildew) on your plants. One is to mix 50:50 ratio water and milk into a spray bottle and spray generously over the leaves. Second is to puree an onion, a head of garlic and 4T cayenne pepper with 4L of water, let it sit for a hour and strain the water into a bucket and then some into a spray bottle. This can be used as both, pesticide and fungicide. Don't spray too wildly with the garlic concoction, it kills the good bugs too. 

Oh, I have a ton of reading to do tonight! I think I just might make it, just maybe. I am slightly hesitant about dreaming of canning our own produce.

Until next time!

Gardening 2013 Part 2

My Garden "Highs and Lows". 

Some of my seedlings didn't survive the transplanting, even though I had hardened them prior. So, I lost some plants, some altogether, but some are thriving, thankfully!

The plants that I will start growing again and more of, are watermelon, giant pumpkins, grass pampas', cabbage, cilantro etc.

The plants which are thriving are, methi (fenugreek), dill, broccoli, strawberries, raspberries, courgettes, cucumbers, radish, spinach, tomatoes, basil, lettuce, carrots etc. Also, all of my herbs and chili peppers are doing well.

I have neglected the weeding and pruning for a few weeks now and, I can really see consequences in doing so. After the rain stops, I will start my weeding-blast and hopefully, I will stay on top of it. It needs prioritizing in my weekly tasks. I'm still learning!

I collect eggshells throughout the weeks and grind them small enough for plant protection (against slugs) and, also I use them as good fertilizer.

I'm waiting for my plants to really blossom lusciously, so I can take a whole garden shot and post it here. I'm thinking mid July, IF our summer is anything like last year's. Hot and sunny, perfect for my vegg!

You may want to read more about us growing our own food this year and the year before. Click on the link! http://holytempleunderrenovation.blogspot.ca/search/label/Growing%20vegetables%20and%20herbs

What are you growing this year? How is your crop coming along?

Things That Help Me Through a Cold

I want to share with you the things that help me ride out the colds I get.

If I have not been smart enough to take the time and repell them, then this is what I come to. You can read my post on (here) about how to repel the bug!

Let me list them. (For a minor cold)

1. (I swear by this) Neti Pot. I use this 2-3x a day to rinse out my sinuses, and find extreme relief from it. Once you get the hang of it, you won't feel any discomfort whatsoever. I would use this on my kids too, that's how safe it is! More on Neti Pots (here). However, I prefer the Finnish Design best, called the "Sarvikuono" (Rhino).
2. Vitamin- C. I pretty much "O.D" on this. I dissolve the tablets or empty the capsules into my drinking water. I use about 4000-7000 mg a day, untill the cold has passed and then I go down to 1000-2000 a day.
3. Water. Drink a ton of it. 2-4 liters a day. I flush out the toxins and help my cells to work better. Keeping hydrated is important for fighting the bug and keeping the cold short.
4. Peppermint Oil. I usually get "head colds". They affect my top sinuses and give me headaches. I don't like taking Tylenol unless I "have to". I find that peppermint oil rubbed on aching areas help 100%!
5. Hydro-Therapy. Take a hot bath or shower untill you feel sweat pearls on your forhead. While you are in the shower/bath, have cotton socks soaking in COLD water. Come out of the bath, drain the socks and put them on. (Yes, feels awful but bare with me). Put wool socks over your feet. Get dressed into "heavy clothes" such as a sweater, and comfortable trousers. Get into bed, cover your self with warm blankets and go to sleep. You have now kick started your kidneys and liver into super mode and will sweat loads during the night. Your body produces heat to dry the cold wet socks. Do not remove your blanket even if you feel uncomfortable with the heat. You'll feel a hundred times better in the morning.
6. A balloon. Apparently playing with a balloon makes you forget you have a cold, according to my 9month old daughter.

 For a heavy cold, add these as well as the ones above:

1. Ginger. Juice fresh ginger and gurgle with honey and swallow. Ginger is potent, and can  will cause a burning sensation. It is very good for soar throats as it works well for mucus membranes. It is antiviral, antibacterial and anti-imflammatory. One piece of ginger root juiced is enough for a day or two. It's that potent!
2. Garlic. Cut cloves into swallowable pieces. Throughout the day swallow 4-6 cloves of garlic (cut!) with water. Garlic cleans out your blood and has all the above properties as ginger does.
3. Tea. Keep sipping tea! Boil water, add sage, let it simmer and drink it throughout the day. You can add raw unpasteurized honey only after it cools down a bit, else it doesn't add positively to your healing.
4. Become vegetarian and don't eat much cooked food. Putting cooked food down your throat gives your body extra work, especially if it's meat. Your poor body has to give up it's disease fighting enzymes to chop down food that it doesn't need at that time. All the energy goes into healing your body. Pretty smart body you got! Fresh veggies and fruit have their own enzymes and don't take much if any energy away from the healing process.
5. Echinacea and other medicinal herbs. Go to your local health food shop and buy them all! You WILL find great relief from them and add to your health for the future. My personal favourites are

• Oregano Oil
• Grapeseed Extract
• Echinacea
• Bronchosan
• Esberitox  click for info

Last but NOT least: PRAYER and SLEEEEEEEEEEP! Go to your Creator and ask Him to give you the strength to persevere and quick healing. Sweet dreams!

Hope this helps!

Our Family Coconut

I want to share with you HOW we use Coconut oil. We love Coconut oil...

We use coconut oil daily in many ways :

• as body lotion
• as baby lotion
• in the bath water
• in cooking (do note: coconut oil can be bought "smell-free", it won't flavour all your cooking coconutty)
• in baking
• as shaving cream
• as after shave cream
• baby toothpaste
• mouthwash
• medicine
• good omegas
• eliminate bad breath
• in icing
• in salad dressing
• as lip balm
• exfolietor (with sugar)
• make up remover
• conditioner (small amount)
• etc  

Oh and here is another picture of uses for coconut oil, which, we have not tried yet...

Empty Fridge, Oh Bliss! No Unnecessary Organizing Part 3

When you go to your fridge to have look, you open the door, see it packed with tons of jars and bags of something, a few tupperware containers with something in them, left overs, bit and bats, but there's nothing for you to eat, or you cannot see anything you can cook with? You know, your door is filled with small jars, quarter empty, bottles of dressings and what not, but you can't see the wood for the trees? Not only that, but you see pieces of dried up onion peel in nooks and crannies? a sticky spill?

Here me out! This is the time for you to start fresh! No need to plan your next week's meals according to the random ingredients which have lingered in your fridge for months, ( really would you want to cook with a food" which doesn't go bad? ) Get rid of it, toss it out, start fresh! I am going to give you a few rules of thumb of what to chuck out and a recipe for a non toxic fridge cleaner!

Rules of thumb:

• If you haven't used it for a few months, chuck it out. When and IF you really really need it, make fresh or spend the penny to buy "fresh"... you don't want to store jars of random pickles and salsas for months. You'll end up with a hall of fame jar-landia.
• read the ingredients, if there is more than 2 ingredients that you cannot pronounce or know what they are, toss it, just toss it! Go back to basics, to ingredients which won't "cause cancer". Natural.
• If the food product has it own TV commercial, toss it, just get rid of the devil! 

Recycle the jars and containers according to your local recycling instuctions. Empty the fridge, Categorize in the simplest way that you can really, in all honestly, follow through with. Keep the meat away from your fresh produce. Make sure your fridge looks more colourful than "beige", this way you know you're eating healthy(er). Store in glass containers, see this blog post for why you ought to! 

Fridge Cleaner Spray

•  warm water
• 1 tbsp bicarb (baking, washing soda)
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 2 drops of cinnamon oil (lovely scent, super bug killer, antifungal etc)

1. mix the oil and vinegar first in a spray bottle
2. add the bicarb
3. then fill up with water

Empty your fridge, spray scrub, wipe down. Fill up your fridge. Be picky, think twice. Cut a lemon in half and place it in the back of your fridge for freshness.

Enjoy!

Organizing the Cuttlery Drawer (Day 4)

People should be extra tidy and CLEAN, when it comes to the drawers in the kitchen. Especially, if you live in a country that has those little gross bugs called ROACHES! Coming from a country where the worst kitchen enemy was a silverfish, I was utterly grossed out by finding a small roach in my kitchen drawer. Everything else in my kitchen was organized except the drawers. The drawers were on the top of my list for Organizing my home in 30 days thank goodness! Think about it, you and your family eat with those utensils right!? Imagine what is on them. Keep your drawers and cupboards TIDY and SANITIZE them at least every other week.

I am NOT joking, my drawers looked like that. Seriously.

and

Keeping the utensils that I rarely use in a seperate container, keeps my drawer organized and prevents them from sliding all over. I would've used sticky matt for the rest of the untensils but I ran out. Will have to purchase some more!