Lost in Space and Time While Wrapped in Tinsel and Covered in Glitter…

So I’ve been off-line for a while now from my blog and I want to be more consistent but sometimes things get in the way.  Little things like, well, life.  I have been sick with a massive Fibro flare that keeps on giving and only now recuperating from that. I finally made it back to work and had to get “caught up” with all I had missed.  The next weekend we went to Cleveland, TN to visit my parents and of course my brother, sister-in-law and sister. Then there was the Thanksgiving Holiday/my birthday (that the entire nation celebrates J) and then the crazed kick-off of the Christmas season. 

No, I don’t “do” Black Friday.  I’ve only gone shopping on Black Friday once in my entire life and hope and pray I never have a mental relapse that induces me to try it again. So far, so good.

But I absolutely LOVE Christmas.  I love the idea that many people come together for a few weeks and focus on others. I love the colors.  I love the decorations.  I love the music.  I love the classic TV shows. I love buying presents for others and adopting children from the angel tree.  I especially love trees.  Each year I put up 7 – 9 Christmas trees inside and outside my house.  I have lots of decorations and each tree has its own color/theme.  I love watching it come together and tweaking it a bit from the previous year. Sometime I decorate a tree in my office too.

This year I’m struggling though.  It isn’t that I don’t still love Christmas and my trees, I do but with my energy waning I find it hard to put up so much stuff as much as I love it all.  So, I’m simplifying my Christmas. My simplification may not match what you would call simplification but it is a HUGE step for me.  I’ve reduced my number of indoor trees to 4 - actually 3 and a half because one is only 3 feet tall.  I’m not even sure if I’m putting up any outside trees.  This is a massive step for me.  I just don’t have the energy for it all.  The problem with putting up the decorations is you have to take them back down again and pack it all up. 

Last year after Christmas I started this process by culling through some of my décor and giving it away to Goodwill.  I’m refining what I want to keep and what I can live without. I’m sharing by donating and I’m helping a good organization – Goodwill. So what made the cut and what didn’t?

Well, apparently last year (much to my surprise this year) I determined I no longer needed my bows for my living room tree, living room garland and dining room chandelier because they were nowhere to be found this year.   So I did go out and buy some new ribbon and made new bows which will be carefully packed for next year. My living room tree is a favorite because it incorporates all the annual ornaments Ben and I have bought together for the last 27 Christmases together. I love the Lennox China annual ornaments and tend to add one of those each year although some of the annual ornaments are Wedgewood or Mikasa if I found something I couldn’t resist.  This year I added a new tree skirt as well that I made this evening with leftover fabric scraps of toile, burlap and some fringe trim I purchased.

Because we are travelling at some point during the Christmas season to Kansas City, MO to help our daughters, Amanda and Kaitlyn, move back home temporarily we will be gone for 3 – 4 days so we have decided to forego the live tree in our upstairs family room. With no way to water it for up to 4 days, we were afraid it wouldn’t make it.  That was a tough one for me.  I love the smell of a fresh tree. Instead of the red and green décor in there incorporating every ornament the girls ever made, I’ve gone with white, silver and green.  It is peaceful and lovely.  At first, I wasn’t happy with my mantel initially but with some adjustments, I’m a lot happier with how it has turned out.

Next, I headed into the large guest room (aka the room formerly known as Kaitlyn’s) and put up a smaller 6 foot white tree with French blue accents, silver and pearls. The skirt is a white Battenberg lace bed spread.  I love how this tree goes with the room and the only “new” addition to this tree from last year is the pearls that I would normally put on the tree in my bedroom. New rule, I will never buy a pre-lit tree again.  Eventually those lights will go out and can’t be repaired and then each wire, bulb and clip will have to be removed.  One at a time.  Painfully slow even with a wire cutter. Ask me how I know.  SIGH…

Then I went to the smaller guest room (aka the room formerly known as Amanda’s) and put up the 4 foot tall white tree with pink, brown and gold ornaments.   It is a fun little tree with the brown glittery birds.  I feel like it “needs” something else but haven’t figured that out yet.  Just like my life, a work in progress.  J

I have also put up a tree in the downstairs family room and decorated the stairs.  I used all my red and green decorations there as I hate to not have them out.  The memory of each ornament that was made by the girls when they were small makes them so precious to me.  If my house was on fire and if I could, I would grab the cats, my photos, the girl’s keepsake boxes from their childhoods and the ornaments they made me. Do you have those ornaments too?  Made with popsicle sticks and painted macaroni that no one but a mother would love?  Remember making those for your mother too? Simply precious!

I’ve got to finish this process because the entire house is covered in glitter right now and fake tree needles of various colors.  Yesterday at dinner, I noticed Ben had red glitter on his cheek and last night the black cat had fake snow on her – either that or a serious case of dandruff.  Lol.

I know 4 (3 ½) trees isn’t exactly the simple life but it is a step in the right direction.  Hope your Thanksgiving holiday/my birthday celebration was as peaceful as mine and your Christmas will be Merry and Bright. I hope you've enjoyed my few trees as much as I do.

Take care of yourself and your families.

Chelle

Simplifying Cooking

I work full time.  My husband, Ben, works full time. Full time for both of us means way more than 40 hours a week.  We have tons of other things we do as well like I attend school full time, we have hobbies, etc. and occasionally we get crazy and do things like laundry and housework.  In the past, we dealt with our seriously busy schedules by going out to eat.  Pricey but convenient. 

                                     

In the last month or so we’ve tried another option and that is crock pot or slow cooker cooking.  Stick with me here, I get it, all those cooking for a month cookbooks requires a day of prep and pre-cooking and who has that kind of time?  Not to mention the recipes are high in fat, sodium, etc.  I wanted to see if I could make this work for us portion wise (since there are only two of us), health wise (since we try to avoid processed and sodium filled foods), convenience wise (since we have limited time) and taste wise since well, we like tasty food.  J

The answer to these concerns is yes, crock pot cooking can help with simplifying your cooking routine. To get started I need recipes and for that I went to Pinterest (yes, I have a Pinterest problem and no, I don’t want help.  Lol.) I found some minimal prep recipes I knew I could adapt to organic and healthy choices. Here are links to the basic recipes:  http://www.ringaroundtherosies.net/2012/02/freezer-cooking.html  and here: http://lovingmynest.com/learning-activities/cooking/freezer-crock-pot-recipes/

The recipes are great already because they take minimal prep time, can be frozen into portions of your choosing and are ready when you get home from work.  Of the recipes given, I have personally made and eaten the following and enjoyed them all. Sausage and Peppers, Teriyaki Chicken, Savory Chicken, Lazy Day Stew (last night’s dinner!), Pork and Veggies, Creamy Farmhouse Chicken and Garden Soup, and my own Lasagna, chicken enchiladas and meatloaf recipes.

How I adapted them is ridiculously easy.  I used organic vegetables, organic whole grain rice or pasta, organic, low sodium broth and/or sauce, and organic or grain fed or free range meat and eggs. I increased the amount of vegetables and decreased the amount of meat.  I trimmed extra fat off of meat as well. I bagged these meals up into portions for two people, got a smaller crockpot and some of the most amazing inventions of ALL time - CROCKPOT LINERS!!! Seriously! No scrubbing the crockpot!  Love this! J When I get home in the evenings all I have to add is a fresh salad or some more veggies. Super, super simple.

I also did not spend a day cooking and prepping.  If the recipe states it has to be pre-cooked, I don’t make it.  What can I say, cooking before you cook seems like a time waster to me!

Here was my plan, I made a grocery list and Ben and I went to the store, he picked up half the list and I grabbed the other half.  Remember, a lack of time is our enemy.  If you can’t trust hubby to stick to the list then it is best to go alone! We had two grocery carts full and spent around $240 including our freezer bags. Yikes.  Remember, none of this food was processed.  We came home and I assembled one meal and froze the portions in gallon size freezer bags (laid down flat with as much air out of it as possible) except for one meal for the next day. The next morning, put in a liner and the meal contents and turn on low. That night after dinner, I assembled another meal or two and repeated every night until I had made all the meals and froze the extra portions.  Within a few days, I had stocked my freezer AND we had prepared meals every night when we came in from work. Except to buy milk, bread and a few fresh veggies, I have not been back to the grocery store since and I have spent less than $100 on food since the initial shopping tour.  That was almost 6 weeks ago and my freezer is still fully stocked.  On the weekends I have been grilling fish, etc. that we already had in the freezer and using that stock up as well. 

$330 for two people for about 6 weeks may seem pricey to some but compared to what we were spending eating out, let’s just say it feels like I’ve gotten a raise.  I’ve also gained more time in the evenings. I’m spending less time prepping food and no time at a restaurant waiting on food.  Our food is healthier, cleaner and tasty. Each night before I go to bed, we discuss what we want and lay it out in the refrigerator to be put in the crockpot the next morning.

Best of all, for our marriage sake, we’ve spent no time asking the most frustrating question of all when you are tired from a long day of work - what do you want to eat? I don’t know.  What do you want to eat?  Maybe that’s just us but at the end of the day we can’t answer this question.  Lol.

With my own recipes, I included a couple of casseroles and some meatloaf made with organic ground turkey.  These get laid out the night before too and then popped into the oven by whoever gets home first – usually Ben due to the traffic I have to fight on the way home.  With our oven there is a wonderful feature – an option for convection cooking so even casseroles are done faster. Yay!

This isn’t for everyone especially if you don’t like soft vegetables, everything mixed together, etc. but it surely has helped us to simplify cooking and eating healthy. Not to mention the benefits to the budget and our time. I'm on the lookout for new recipes for our next batch of meals so if you have any easy crockpot/freezer meals to share, email me at Lavenderatthegate@gmail.com or post a comment below.

I hope this helps your budget and time as well.

Take care of yourself and your families!

~Chelle

What's the point?

I’m often asked what’s the point of buying organic foods and making your own products?  I’m told “I don’t have time for that” or “I don’t have sensitive skin” or “it doesn’t bother me.” I get it.  We all only have so many hours in the day and if I’m not breaking out from a product or food, I’m probably going to think it is safe. I know that was how I always felt.  Until they did start bothering me.  Until I was in pain, bedridden and started researching causes for my health issues. It didn’t take long to pick up a product – say lotion or sauces or deodorant or even tissues! and find ingredients that I couldn’t pronounce or understand. 

When I started researching some of these ingredients and realized how toxic they are I was shocked to say the least.  The food I was eating, the products I used and my cleaning supplies were all slowly harming me and my family. So I started small.  I changed my diet slowly but surely and it is still a work in progress.  Now I’ve added in the product component and it still is a work in progress. I don’t always get it right but I’m still working towards the goal of getting it right.

I also find it satisfying to figure something out for myself and teach myself a new skill like soap making. Small steps, simple steps to change my life and my health. That is the point for me.

Yesterday I was doing laundry and ran out of my Seventh Generation detergent.  That stuff is expensive so I researched online checked my "recipes" and made my own detergent rather than running out and buying more. Because I was in the middle of laundry, I didn’t have time to make liquid soap like I normally use so I made powdered instead. Because I have a front loading washer, I add the detergent to the tub and not through the dispenser.

The detergent is super easy to make and only takes 3 ingredients. I added Lavender essential oil but not required to clean! If you are very sensitive, wear a mask and gloves because although Borax is a naturally occurring ingredient, it is still toxic to some.  Better to not inhale.

Powdered Laundry Detergent

2 bars ivory soap or organic soap bar shredded fine (I used Dr.  Bronner’s castile bar soap and grated with a cheese grater)

2 cups Washing Soda

2 cups Borax

20 drops of lavender essential oil (optional but smells awesome!)

Mix together thoroughly and use 1 TBSP per load.

That’s right, 1 TBSP per load!  My clothes came out really clean and this took about 10 minutes to make.  I give it 4 out of 5 simply because I want to find an alternative to Borax.  It works extremely well but I’m concerned about long term impacts.  Still, it beats all the sulfates and other chemicals in regular detergents! And it is certainly cheaper than Seventh Generation or other natural products.

Another thing I did yesterday afternoon was to clean my make-up brushes. Make-up brushes are expensive and get clogged with make-up affecting how well they work not to mention, if you have oily skin or acne it can cause contamination of your skin. Cleaning them takes care of them and helps eliminate contamination. It was overdue for me and I tend to put it off because it is usually kind of a pain as I always wash my brushes one brush at a time under running water with shampoo.  This time I decided to try something I read about on Pinterest. http://www.pincookie.com/how-to-properly-clean-your-makeup-brushes/ I filled a glass with 1 TBSP of white vinegar and hot water and then let the brushes soak for 20 minutes.  I rinsed with hot then cold water then shaped the brushes and let dry on a towel with the ferrule pointing slightly down to drain. 

This worked far better than the shampoo has ever worked and was super easy. I give it 5 out of 5 for this task. Love when things work as advertised!  J

Like I said before my journey is a work in progress and I certainly haven’t eliminated all toxic chemicals yet. One area I need to really focus on is at work.  At work I use the soap dispensers which aren’t organic or natural by any stretch of the imagination. They are, however, I’m sure pretty cheap.  J  I’m going to bring in my own hand soap and lotion for there but I’m sure if I put it on the bathroom counter, it will get used by everyone before the chemical stuff.  Lol. That's okay as maybe I can help someone else on their journeys too.

Take care of yourself and your families!

~chelle