I am off on Fridays which allows for lots of cleaning and kitchen time. Today was no different. In the morning while it was still cool and after morning chores were done I headed to our apple and crabapple trees to pick apples. I have been dehydrating apples for use this winter (since we don’t have a cellar for storing them). I’ve also made apple crisp twice and it is delicious. It uses a lot of butter, however, so this may become an issue with our new project.
Once the apples were picked I vacuumed and steam cleaned our living room carpets using Sol.U.Mel from Melaleuca. It looks wonderful! It’s a concentrate, so I mixed it according to the directions, sprayed it on the carpet, let it set 15-20 minutes, and steamed cleaned away. We have three dogs in and out of our house, so it gets pretty disgusting in this high traffic area.
While the carpet was drying I did two loads of laundry, down from the 4-5 I usually have to do, and this included our bedding. I have been stressing the need to wear our work pants/jeans more than once if they are not visibly dirty or smelly. Whew, what a difference one small change can make and there is only two of us. I have also been using laundry detergent from Melaleuca. I usually make my own detergent, but my mom wanted me to try this and bought me a bottle. I may continue to use this on my towels and washclothes to keep them fresh smelling, but will probably continue to make my own detergent for cost purposes. It is wonderful detergent though.
I made up a few batches of pesto from the basil in my herb garden and froze it to use up in the next couple months. I don’t think it’s something that should be stored long term even in the freezer.
I also managed to take inventory of our food supply in order to know the next time around where we came up short and where we could have reduce our supply. Someday I may not be able to run to the store on my lunchbreak and would like to know we could go a few months without grocery shopping since the nearest store is 50 miles away.
Just a quick tidbit on where we do our shopping while we are on the subject:
Walmart as LITTLE as humanly possible!!!
Local Farmer’s Markets
Locally owned and operated bulk food store and fresh produce market.
A small, local grocery store.
For odds and ends we try to shop our hometown first, next we go to smaller businesses in surrounding towns/cities, usually close to where we work.
Dinner:
Stuffed Green Peppers (Farmer’s Market peppers, homemade ketchup from homegrown tomatoes, and local humanely-raised beef)
Coconut Chicken Soup (Nourshing Traditions recipe)
Refrigerator Pickles (cucumbers from the neighbors, peppers and onions from the Farmer’s Market)
A Simple Prairie Life 