Wisdom from My Kitchen Window

Natural Cold Remedy

This year has been the warmest winter I can remember since moving to this beautiful area, but for some reason it has been our sickest winter.  As soon as the crud of colds makes its round with the Fish Sticks, I feel  like we barely have a breather before some 48 hour stomach bug makes its own rounds too.  YUCKO!!

Well I try my hardest to approach things naturally, allowing our body to heal FIRST without strong intervention.  If I start losing the battle, then I pull out the "big guns" and head to my medicine cabinet (which is FULLY stocked from my drug store couponing!).

So when my eldest had to come home early from school because his cough was constant and wouldn't let up, I started with this...a cup of hot water, juice of half a lemon with a heaping tablespoon of raw, local honey.  It soothes the cough, breaks up the mucous and the honey (if raw) has antibacterial properties.  Garlic is by far the strongest natural antibiotic out there, so I had him swallow a small, clove whole. 

These are things that most folks keep on hand so you don't have to be a professional herbalist to grab these great home remedies.  If you're brave, add a dash of cayenne pepper too.  It aids in circulation, and helps kick that cold also.

Laundry in the Fish House

 Today is LAUNDRY DAY.  Here's what laundry day looks like for us.  My Man had the wonderful idea when he built our house that he would put a stacked washer and dryer upstairs for the Fish Stick's laundry.  How grateful I am that I no longer have to lug laundry up and down the stairs, although I'm sure my flab would appreciate a bit more lugging up and down.

My mom always had a laundry day. I remember the hallway being filled with laundry for the majority of the day as she sorted, washed, dried, folded and stacked for us to put away.  I did things like that for a long time and then added another laundry day as the family grew.  I'm not the best about completing the laundry 100% in a day.  I wish I did, but I forget to stay on top of the buzzer.  I throw the dry clothes on the couch, saying I will fold them later.  I leave folded laundry sitting in my closet or worst yet, I leave dry clothes in the dryer for days to be a big, wrinkly mess.

So back in August, I was revamping my daily schedule after sending 3 kids to school and only homeschooling 3 little ones.  I decided every Fish Stick would have their own laundry days.  Monday was the parents, Tuesday was the boys, Wednesday was the middle girls, Thursday was the oldest and youngest girls and then Friday was the parents again.  I gave it my best shot but honestly, my bad laundry habits listed above just worsened, not to mention I realized I didn't like doing laundry enough to spread it out into 5 days a week.

As part of my New Year's Resolution changes I decided to go back to the old way but commit to doing it better.  So far, so good.  Monday is LAUNDRY DAY!!  Whoo Hoo!!  All laundry upstairs hits the hallway the night before and I throw in a load as I am tucking all Fish Sticks in bed.  In the a.m. I throw in a downstairs load, switch a load upstairs and turn on the baby monitor.  I can hear the upstair's buzzer on the monitor and guess what?  I'm actually listening to the buzzer and jumping up to switch out the laundry when I hear it.  I also found that bringing dry clothes into my closet and hanging and putting away as I fold works much better for my bad procrastination habits of old.

As for the Fish Sticks, well they have 24 hours after all laundry is complete (beginning Monday night usually) to put their clothes in their dresser.  My 5 year old Fish Stick gets his sorted by his Mama to put up and my 3 year old Fish Stick gets her folded laundry handed to her so she can lay them in the opened drawer.  If the laundry is not put up in 24 hours, then the Fish Stick has to wash, dry, fold and put up their own laundry the following week.  Pretty motivating, huh?  It has only happened 3 times and oh, were they ever sad they forgot to put up their laundry!  Not too bad.

Couponing Boo Boo

I made a mistake today in my Walgreens run.  It wasn't a horrible mistake, but it was a $3 mistake.  I know some of you think it's not even worth blogging about, but I was just frustrated that I wasn't more careful.  Does shopping with 3 young kids count for an easy distraction?

So this week at Walgreens, I needed to buy 2 Colgate toothpastes and 2 Colgate toothbrushes and use coupons for $1 off and 75 cents off from 3/11 SS and 2/26 SS.  Pay $9.50 out of pocket.  Get $5 back in Register Rewards and mail in a rebate for $5 that is found in 1/29 SS (but expires 3/15 so snag it NOW if you want to try this!).  All of it would be FREE!!  I accidentally got 4 toothpastes instead.  I still will get the mail in rebate but I only got the $3 Register Reward.  The other $2 one was only for toothbrushes.  The toothbrush coupon worked for the toothpaste so I never caught my own mistake.  But honestly, getting 4 tubes of toothpaste for $2 isn't so bad.

Then I purchased 2 Irish Spring body washes for $3 each (total $6).  I had one coupon for $1 off deodorant and a coupon for 50 cents off of body wash (deodorant was also part of the sale).  I rather have body wash over deodorant so I tried the $1 off coupon for body wash but it didn't work.  Oh Stink!  So I ended up paying $1 each for body wash instead of getting them for 50 cents each.

Still a good shopping day.

I have intentions to go to CVS to get Pedia Care Liquid for 99 cents after ECB (no coupon required), Zyrtec for free with ECB (no coupon required) and get the Irish Spring Deodorant for 50 cents each since I still have those coupons and they have the same deal as CVS this week.

If you have no coupons, go head out to CVS and stock your medicine cabinet with the first 2 items for sure!!

Homemade Crock Pot Yogurt

A friend asked me to tell you how I made yogurt in my crock pot.  I learned to do this about 2 years ago.  It is so easy and inexpensive that I make it almost weekly.

Crock Pot Yogurt

Pour 1/2 gallon of milk in crock pot.

Set on low for 2 1/2 hours.

Turn off and unplug.  Leave covered and undisturbed for 3 hours.

Take 2 cups of warmed milk out and place in small bowl.  Whisk with the 2 cups of warm milk 1/2 cup of plain yogurt with LIVE cultures (check label).  I like to use just plain whole yogurt.

Optional:  You can add a thickening agent like 1/2 cup of powdered milk or 1 pack of unflavored gelatin.

Stir that mixture back into the crock pot.  Cover and wrap crock pot in thick bath towel and let sit for 8+ hours.  Refrigerate.

After making this once, save 1/2 cup of the yogurt to use as your starter for the next batch.  There's so many things you can make with this healthy yogurt.  The Fish Sticks love it drizzled with honey, served with homemade granola, added to thicken up a smoothie, with a spoonful of jam stirred up to add sweetness and chunks of fruit.  I like it best with sliced bananas, a few drops of vanilla stevia and a few sprinkles of cinnamon.

If it's too runny for you, you can strain it through a colander lined with some knit (like a t-shirt).  I did this the first time I made it and left it in the fridge too long straining.  The yogurt then was way too thick, so keep an eye on it.

Couponing the Grocery Stores

I've posted several times to get you started on using coupons to save your family money buying from Walgreens and CVS. 

After "mastering" the pharmacy stores, I ventured out to coupon at the grocery store.  The situations that happen on the tv for "Extreme Couponing" are just not realistic, in my opinion.  From what I hear, the stores have seen the series and have cracked down considerably on their coupon policies to prevent people from buying $1,000 of groceries and paying 50 cents for it.

My issue with couponing the grocery stores is often times I sacrifice nutrition in order to save a buck.  Occasionally it may be worth it to me to purchase some processed snack I would normally never purchase just because it cost me pennies to buy.  It serves as a special treat to the Fish Sticks and is just occasional.  I do look at my favorite coupon website each week to see what deals I can snag at Kroger and Publix but on most weeks, I pass.  To get a pack of 4 flavored yogurts for 50 cents with coupons just doesn't seem worth it when I have 6 kids and make natural, Greek-style yogurt by the half gallon in my crock pot almost weekly and only pay for the half gallon of milk (which cost me $1.50).  It lasts much longer and is much better for them with a spoonful of raw, local honey on it or mixed with a smoothie.  If I can get cereal for $1 a box, then it's worth my trip.  Oftentimes I can find toiletry items or paper goods that are worth the effort to coupon at the grocery store.

So if your family enjoys packaged foods more than mine does, couponing the grocery stores is something that would be worth checking into.  If you try to shy away from those things as much as possible, don't steer clear altogether, just skim the deals weekly to see what your family might benefit from.

As I catch deals at the grocery, I will be sure and share them in time for you to grab them too.

Tummy Troubles

The Fish Sticks have been having the crud quite a bit in the last 2 months.  In January the 48 hour stomach bug made its rounds through 5 of the 6 of them.  Then in February it came right back and made its round again.

With the stomach bug, there's not much you can do but let your body do what it needs to do to flush out what's ailin' it.  One thing though that I have found helps is to tell my Fish Sticks to soak in a hot tub with about 1/2 to 1 cup of Epsom Salt and about 10 drops of Tea Tree Oil.  Epsom Salt draws toxins out of the body, the hot/warm water relaxes tight, upset tummies and Tea Tree Oil has antibiotic properties that can soak through the skin and inhaled through the steam.