Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday: How To Ripen A Tomato


*****Welcome to Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday! This is where I give little tips on things that aren't really projects (e.g. not how to make a pillow, but the best stitch for when you make the pillow - make sense?).*****


   Ever have a kiddo pull a tomato off the plant that wasn't fully red yet? Or maybe it was you ;-) Well, have no fear, it will still probably ripen just fine.Ask people and you will get many tips like: "set it in the window-sill", "turn it every day", etc, etc. Well I have another tip to add to the repertoire :) Don't set it up-side down as you may do to keep it from rolling. Think of how it ripens on the vine: not upside-down! A smart older man once told me that the flavor comes out of the bottom and penetrates the tomato if set the right way. But, he said if it's upside-down, all the flavor will stay right there.


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Friday, September 23, 2011

Buying The Best Produce



    Today I'm going to give you some tips about purchasing the best fresh produce from the farmers market. This year we did our first farmers market as a seller and, I must say, it's quite interesting viewing it from the other side of the table!

    I see sooo many people just walk through and grab whatever looks good, trusting that the "local farmer" did a good job growing it. But I warn you, not all local produce is nutritionally-dense food! There are some tables, or some certain items, that I would NOT pay to buy at the farmers market. Might as well get the same thing in a store if I'm buying for nutritional values.

    So here are a few very important questions to ask. I'll leave it up to you if you think their answer is good or not for you and your family. If you are buying at a market or anywhere else for that matter, you REALLY should know about these options!

1) Is this from a greenhouse, or the garden?
2) Do you use gmo-free seed (heirlooms and open-pollinated), or hybrids?
3) Do you feed your plants with compost, or store-bought fertilizer?
3) Do you spray your plants with anything?
4) Did you grow this, or buy it to re-sell?
5) Are these grown in dirt, or from hydroponics?
6) When was this produce picked (how fresh is it)?

    Those questions are a great start to getting real food. If you want nutritional food, I'm sorry to break the news to you folks, but you've got to grit your teeth and fight for it. People RARELY ask me these important questions. Want to make lots of money at growing produce? You can dump lots of junk on them and use junky seeds since it's the cheapest way - and people will buy it, trusting that it's nutritional.

    Ladies. Here's the challenge I give to you. One of our jobs as a wife and mom (or future wife and mom) is to practice feeding our families good food. So knowing how to get the best food is a very important skill. Next time you're at the farmers market, ask some of these questions! They are SO important if you want nutritional food. Print the list if it will help you remember.



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A-Wise-Woman-Builds-Her-Home

Friday, September 16, 2011

When You Look In The Mirror....



    I came across this quote recently....I don't remember where. I actually changed it a bit to talk about the message of the heart since true beauty comes from the heart. We can try to dress up and look pretty, and we may indeed look beautiful - but every man and woman knows that there are some ladies who seem to have a radiating beauty. It's not showy. It's not slutty. But rather the beauty engulfs her total appearance (physical, emotional, spiritual) and comes from a joy deep within - God's love flowing through her. It comes in the form of appearances in the things she wears and in the thoughtful things she does - this is the true beauty we should each strive for.


    Your challenge is this: practice letting the way you dress reflect the joy of your heart. If your heart isn't feeling joyful at the moment, wear something joyful anyway....I find that that can often change my attitude for the day. Feel free to use the picture if you need the quote as a reminder.




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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday: Gunkey Dough on the Counter


   Yep. That's it! A wash-cloth. When we get a gunky mess of dough on the counter from kneading dough, we wipe off what we can, but sometimes we don't want to sit there scraping off every little remain of sticky dough. Know what I'm talking about?

   Well this is what we do: rinse the rag in nice hot water and lay it out flat on the yucky spot while the delicious bread (or whatever yummy treat it happens to be!) bakes in the oven. By the time the bread is done, you should be able to wipe that gunk right off.

   So now let me ask....how do YOU get that gunk off?



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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday: Bath Bombs In The Toilet??? -And- GIVEAWAY!!


    ~~~~~Welcome to Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday! This is where I give little tips on things that aren't really projects (e.g. not how to make a pillow, but the best stitch for when you make the pillow - make sense?). ~~~~~

   Yup! It was my mom's great idea :D Remember the bath bombs we made a while back? My mom came up with the idea of using them as a fun way to clean the toilet! Just make the bath bombs in smaller molds. Plop in your bath bomb and scrub away! It works because baking soda kills bacteria and the essential oils will make your toilet smell pretty enough to eat lunch off of it! Oh...well...I guess not quite THAT pretty....

   Try it out! Whether it's your chore or someone else's to scrub that nasty thing clean, put some adventure into the job!

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   I also want to let you know about a giveaway happening on a blog I happen stumble upon. She is giving away a FREE copy of the book "Back To Basics". This book tells, obviously, all about how to do basic things that are important and so cool to know. Livestock, sewing, gardening - it covers quite a few topics. So click here and stop by her blog to enter!



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Friday, September 2, 2011

Creating A Cute Nightstand

    Check out this cute idea over on one of my favorite blogs. If I needed some drawers, I might have done it! But I don't, so I'll pass it along to you all and maybe you can put this great idea to use!

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