Homemade Washing Powder

I make my own washing powder. I just had to do another batch so I thought I would document it just in case anyone is interested.

I grate 4 bars of Sunlight Soap.....

Add one tub of Borax...

And two cups of washing soda.

I have been using this for a while now and my main motivation was to cut out the chemicals and who knows what else is in the bought laundry powders.

But in the interest of budgeting I decided to document how many washes I get from my batch of washing powder. The last batch I got 69 washes from it.

When you do the maths.... The cost of the three ingredients is a total of $7.84 which means that each wash costs me $0.11 in washing powder. Pretty good hey.

I use Sunlight Soap but I have a box of generic laundry soap in there to give a try. If this soap still does the job - and the test is definitely the pooey nappies and my husbands socks - then that will cut the cost of each wash down to $0.09 per wash.

And another positive is you get good biceps from grating the soap bars!

Expressing Advice

We are going to a wedding this Saturday and Paddy is staying with a friend for our time at the reception. My friend, Sal, was also my midwife so if I was going to leave Paddy with anyone for the first time, she is definitely the best candidate.

There is still a level of anxiety about leaving him though. And I have pinpointed this anxiety down to the feeding factor. That's why I need to express so I can make sure if he is hungry there will be enough milk there for him when I'm not there.

I have a flash breast pump so that base is covered. The problem is I don't know too much about expressing. When is the best time to do it? Do I express from both breasts at the one time?

I considered looking this up on google but decided you are all way better qualified than the google world. If you have had an experience with expressing please let me know....

Another mission in preparation for the wedding - take my white winter legs out of hibernation and introduce them to the sun. And maybe a shave wouldn't go astray too.

If I am going to pull off the dress I have in mind this is very necessary. Only shorts for me for the rest of the week.

Tag Toys

I am a really bad sewer. I have only just started to learn and even the basics are beyond me. So don't look too closely at this photo, I beg you.

I made two tag toys for Paddy. He is addicted to putting things in his mouth and will always find the tag on anything that is laying around. I got the inspiration for this from here.

I put a long ribbon on them with a safety pin so I can pin them to Paddy's shirts. He is still not so good at hanging onto things so all the toys he wants to put in his mouth are forever ending up on the floor. I don't mind at home but we are off to a music festival this weekend and I thought that dirt mixed with beer on his toys was not the best thing for him to be putting in his mouth.

Next time I will try and make them with the plastic inside. It's a great sound and I have been keeping my scrunchy food wrappers aside especially for this toy.

I just chickened out this time.

Which Boob was it?

CAUTION: Below post features lots of boob talk. And boys that is realistic boob talk - not sexy in any way.

Ever since Paddy first day with us I have been asking that question. I am forever forgetting which boob I need to feed off next. And this small thing is absolutely doing my head in!

My tactics to try and remember in the past have been
....ask everyone around me if they know or remember how I fed last time. That has included people I hardly know.
....use the hair tie method and swap from hand to hand when I feed. There are two flaws to that system (a) I always forgot to swap the hair tie over to the other hand; and (b) I would always take the hair tie off my hair to tie up my hair
....very indiscreetly grab both my boobs and try and decide which one feels the fullest. I have been known to do this in every public place I have been in only to be reminded by the person I am with that we are not at home.

But I think I have cracked it. I am going to not do up the clip on my bra after I feed from it. That way the unclipped side is the breast I last fed on. Just remembering to clip up the other side is going to be a hard one but I am committed.
The only other major problem I see is that I am going to come out of this breastfeeding experience with lop-sided boobs from one being unclipped all the time.

However, that is a risk I am willing to take.

Cloth Nappies

I use cloth nappies for Paddy (Baby Bee-Hinds). Everytime I tell someone this their response is "There is no way I could do that - it is too much work." I try to tell them that it really is easy but they are never convinced. So I thought I would show you just how easy it is.

I purchased a pack of 32 nappies and 3 nappy covers. It cost me around $500 which was a big upfront cost but compared to using disposable nappies it is very cheap. These nappies will last Paddy until he is 3 years old.

Anyway, this is my process.

When I change Paddy I put the wet nappies into the nappy bucket which is right beside his change table. I don't rinse them - well the wet ones anyway. The pooey nappies I rinse in the laundry tub and then put in the nappy bucket.

I also use cloth wipes that I made myself and these go straight in the bucket as well.

At night before I go to bed, I take this nappy bucket to the laundry and sprinkle over about 1/2 cup bicarb soda and fill it with hot water. I soak them in this overnight.

When I wake in the morning I put the load of nappies in the washing machine. I hang them on the clothes airers instead of on the line. This way I can move them into the sun, or move them easily out of the rain if it is wet.

I don't have to do this every night but I do it at least every second day.

It really is that easy. And every wash I know I am saving money on disposables and not contributing to the landfill with the disposable nappies. That makes me smile.

I definitely believe in everybody's right to choose the cloth or disposable nappies and this is by no means a guilt trip, but I thought I would just outline how easy it really is just in case that was the only thing stopping you from giving it a go.

Pork Shoulder in the Slow Cooker

Oh my god!! It was beautiful.

I put it on low for about 8 hours with a bit of garlic and rosemary and it was the most delicious, moist, soft pork I have ever eaten. I cut off the crackle and put it under the grill so it was just like having a pork roast from the oven.

And the pork shoulder which I have never tried before but bought because it was cheap at the butcher - it is definitely a winner!

If you have a slow cooker I reckon tomorrow you need to get yourself a piece of pork shoulder and put it on low for 8 hours. You will love it!

P.S I put the Monthly Money Saving Icon in the left column - I need to start getting serious about saving money around here so I am going to get money saving tips from around the place and commit to one each month. They say it takes 21 days to create a habit - I'm giving myself at least 30 days to introduce money saving behaviours in my world. Join in if you like....

Collecting Cans

....to make this fabulous bunting for my birthday celebrations at the end of the year. This is one of Sarah's great bunting ideas over at One Perfect Day.

Any ideas on what I can make to put in them...?

Cake Stall...Check!

Yesterday was a day of baking for the cake stall. I am so proud that I have completed my first volunteer job for our Neighbourhood Centre.

To pack my goodies I made origami boxes out of some white copy paper. It worked out really well. Here is the tutorial I used - super easy.

I baked hummingbird cakes, the famous white chocolate and macadamia biscuits, melting moments, chocolate crackles, coconut ice, chocolate fudge and this little beauty below.

Creamy Caramel Fudge

2 x 395g cans condensed milk

2 cups brown sugar

250g butter, chopped

1/3 cup liquid glucose

1/4 cup golden syrup

400g white cooking chocolate

: Place condensed milk, sugar, butter, glucose and golden syrup in a bowl

: Microwave on 70% power, uncovered, for 8-10mins stirring every 2 minutes with a whisk. Do this until the mixture comes to the boil.

: Microwave on 70% power for a further 5-6 mins, stirring every minute with a wooden spoon. You want your mixture to be thick and golden.

: Stand mixture for 2 mins until bubbles subside.

: Add white chocolate and stir until it melts.

: Pour mixture into a pan lined with baking paper.

: Stand at room temperature for 3 hours and then refrigerate until set.

Enjoy!

Encouraging Creative Thinking

The journey of finding my parenting style was something I wasn't prepared for. I always thought that it was be an instinct based approach. But now I realise that it takes work and it takes making a conscious decision on how to approach different situations using a parenting style that you relate to.

Some of qualities I want to foster in Paddy are:

• Empathy
• Kindness
• Compassion
• Imagination
• Creative Thinking.

Which leads me to this post over at Childhood 101. It opened up a whole new world of ideas for me. I always would have asked the first question but I love how you can turn a question around to encourage your child to use their imagination and think creatively about the answer.

Really cool idea I thought....

Homemaking as a Career

Very wise words in this post from Rhonda at Down to Earth.

I especially like the line..."Housework rewards us with homes we want to spend time in."

It got me thinking. I just love a clean, tidy house. The feeling of satisfaction I get in the afternoon when I have worked hard to get the house in just the right order, really is a good feeling.

When there is no washing in the basket - that is a good feeling. When I can walk on my kitchen floors without sticking to them - that is a good feeling. When I can climb into my bed with fresh, clean sheets - that is a good feeling. When I can go to the toilet without my husband's markings all over the bowl (ladies, you know what I mean!) - that is a good feeling.

So I think it's time for me to embrace making a home as my career. I do it as a chore and bitch and moan about it while I am doing it, but it takes up such a major part of my day so why approach it with negativity. Instead of seeing the housework part of my role as homemaker as something I resent having to do, I am going to start looking at the chores of our house as my work to create a home that is welcoming, relaxing and easy to be a part of.

I kind of like the idea of being called a homemaker too....

Organising my Recipes

When we moved I opened a cupboard to find it full of cooking magazines. Yes, I was once addicted to buying every cooking magazine each month. I decided, and my husband strongly suggested, that we weren't going to move all of these magazines. So for the last few weeks of my pregnancy and the first few weeks of Paddy's life I went through every magazine and came up with a basket full of torn out pages.

This basket has sat on my shelf for 4 months now. One of my ODI's was to organise them.


So I unloaded a pile of manilla folders and sorted all those recipes into category folders. Now when I want to cook something sweet I can go to the dessert or cake or biscuit or confectionery folders and find something to cook.



Whoever eats the food gives it a rating - "Do we really love it?" "Would we eat it again?" If the answer is "No" we turf the ripped out magazine page. If the answer is "Yes" it makes it to the Good Recipe Box which is slowly filling up with recipes we love.

Slowly but surely I will get through all of these recipes - the idea is kind of exciting. My husband always says that he never gets to eat the same thing twice. I think that's going to be the case for a lot longer.

How do you organise your recipes?

I love my husband but....

This really annoys me!

And then when they do make it to the washing basket, they are put on the lid.

Just another thing to add to the ever-growing list of nag worthy things my husband does.

White Chocolate & Macadamia Biscuits

These had to be shared - they are seriously good.
Baked Friday - all eaten by Saturday

250g butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tspn vanilla essence

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups plain flour

1 tspn baking powder

3/4 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

180g white chocolate

: Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

: Beat butter, sugars and vanilla together until light and fluffy.

: Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition

: Sift flour and baking powder over butter mixture

: Add nuts and chocolate.

: Stir with a metal spoon until well combined
(I have no idea why you have to use a metal spoon but I just went with it....)

: Drop spoonfuls of mixture onto lined baking trays.

: Cook for 12-15mins or unitl light golden and firm to touch - not crisp.


Enjoy!

Creative Boost

We spent the day at the Ekka - the Brisbane Royal Show. And I could have spent hours in the Arts Pavilion. These are the only two photos I got before my battery went dead. I apologise for the quality - they were taken with my phone while I was holding a sleeping baby.

Now I need to learn embroidery

and go crazy cooking up preserves and jams.

The talent of so many creative people has really given me the boost I needed to try something new.

That is not good news for the many half finished projects I have lying around this house though....

Waiting for the dream feed...

...I decided to play with my blog.

There are a few more things left to do but he is fed and back down to sleep and mamma needs some rest.

Sorry if it all seems a bit out of wack.

Does it matter if I don't watch the news?

We have a no TV house. Except when my husband apparently NEEDS to watch the rugby. The reaction I get from people when I tell them that we don't watch TV is nearly always the same. They say....

"What do you do?"

OR

"How do you keep up with the news?"

The first question I don't mind responding to - "We actually talk to each other" I say to which most people nod their heads, understanding that watching TV together isn't actually spending time together.

The second question just plain annoys me. (are you ready for my rant...) This question almost always comes from the people who have just told me about the latest con artist they saw on A Current Affair or Today Tonight. Or about Paris Hilton's new love.

This is the moment where I find it hard not to say....

"The commercial news that you find so important and interesting is not objective and is programmed to fulfill someone else's agenda.

Why don't you independently research the areas of the news that you are interested in and create an opinion for yourself.

It absolutely does not matter to my life what the latest celebrity is doing or whether there is a neighbourhood dispute in the suburbs of Perth.

What is wrong with this society is people being told what to think by bias news broadcasts and current affairs shows instead of looking at all the angles of a piece of news and coming up with informed opinions for themselves."

Instead I say "Oh we listen to Radio National or Podcast."

Scaredy Cat aren't I......

Winter has arrived.....

Time to bring out the hats!

Bi-Carb Soda as a Fabric Softener

I experimented and put bi-carb soda in the fabric softener compartment for my nappy wash.

And it worked! Paddy's nappies are definitely softer.

I can't give any details because I have no idea how much I put in. Next wash I will take more notice.

Just thought it was a little tip to share.

The Cake Stall

I am officially a volunteer at the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre. I feel really proud that I am doing something to help out such a wonderful centre.

First job - bake for the cake stall. I met with Merryl today, the wonderful organiser of the stall and am ready to go. I need to recruit a few helpers - I think a baking day with friends will be heaps of fun.

Any suggestions on good food for cake stalls, swing them my way.