Homemade

Homemade Ice-cream~What I AM

/ Lee Reynolds

    For there is no friend like a sister in calm and stormy weather. To cheer one on the tedious way, To fetch one if one goes astray. To lift one if one totters down, To strengthen whilst one stands ~Christina Rossetti~

 

The above piece was written by an English poet, who lived during the Victorian era in London. Christina Rossetti was ahead of her time, being born almost 200 hundred years ago, she became a leading feminist, as she was able to support herself with her craft, when class and gender bias was rampant. When I read about women such as this, it inspires me to keep going. It’s not always easy to be a mom to a large family. It’s not always easy to be an older mom to young children. People have such huge judgments about what is right, ethical and proper. If she could overcome society’s ingrained beliefs back then, then I can keep going in the 21 century, trying my best to open people’s eyes to our true nature.

We aren’t our gender, our colour, our religion, our class, our marital status, our sexual preference, our religion, our political party membership, or our  age. We aren’t the house we live in, the car we drive,  what we do for a living or how much money we earn. We are, what is deep inside each of us. And for each of us, the journey within can take a lifetime. Some never discover their true self.  

 

Summer was flying along on the wings of butterflies and was carrying me breezily through my days. The children were busy going to camp, taking tennis and swimming lessons, and I was happily in the garden, digging in the dirt, laying mulch and tending to our new chicken flock. Every spare moment was gloriously full. I lose myself outdoors, in the garden, in a forest, on the beach or in the country. Being close to nature keeps me grounded and connected to all things. It feeds my soul, allows my heart to sing and makes me feel peaceful.  

 

 

My lazy summer reverie was shattered two weeks ago.

After having a busy week at home, I stopped in for a visit at my cyber parenting board and discovered a horrendous tragedy had happened to my dear board bud and her family. I have been fortunate to share my parenting path with a group of wise and intelligent women for several years now and I never thought anything negative would occur being actively on the internet. Yes, naive on my part but the need to connect with other women who are walking a similar path, was a strong pull. 

 

 

Don’t we all feel more comfortable when we find “our people.” You know a bosom buddy who just gets us. Someone who shares many of the same things in life and understands how rocky and wonderful the path can be at times. Living in the 21 century affords us the technological luxury to connect quickly to like-minded friends all over the world. It’s such a blessing and now I also see the negative side as well.

I am not going to go into the tragic event that occurred, as it’s not my story to tell. What I want to share is what happened to me and my other board buds who were shocked and grieving for our friend and her family. This is the side tragedy that often accompanies painful events. Anger is one of the first emotions that rises up after a horrific loss and the reaction often is “who can I blame.”

 We had unwelcome guests coming on our board (which has always felt like our safe, private living room) spewing hate and horrible judgments towards our board friend and us as well. It shook me to the core, as I have not experienced that level of hatred and abuse in my life. I always look for the best in others but sadly, I see that there are those who do consciously choose to harm with intent. The fact that they feel their judgment is the righteous one, does not make their hateful remarks justified or above reproach.  

These people lurk in the shadow of anonymity and must derive some sort of satisfaction from stirring up controversy. It gives them a sense of power, perhaps and also feeds their ego when they create havoc. “Sick, and perverse,” is all I can say about this kind of behavior. All the things that they “claim” are wrong about everyone else, is something they should recognize in themselves.

 

I am not going to get caught up in this drama though, since I have a life to live and I have children to lead. At the end of my days, I hope I can look back on my life and say, I didn’t waste any moments by being negative or intentional mean. What is gained when we travel that path? There are going to be great times of grief, that is part of life, but knowing how to observe the feelings without reacting is a powerful tool and then flowing through the emotions with the least amount of resistance is key to healing. Yes, things will never be the same again, but with each experience we grow wiser.

What prompted this blog post today was watching nature and realizing it has much to teach me. Recently, we had a summer storm. The sky became dark and the clouds opened up, spilling torrential rain, like the tears I’ve shed for my cyber-friend and her children. Winds whipped up, filling our house with penetrating cold air. 

 

The kids were transfixed, sitting safely on our window seat in the kitchen watching the changing sky, and the swirling lake below our home. They watched as buckets of water rolled off our decks to the gardens below. It occurred to me they were still young enough to have not experienced this kind of extreme weather pattern in their life. Certainly not too many summer storms since first, they have only lived a few summers and 2, we don’t experience this kind of weather disturbance in the summer in our valley.

Suddenly, I heard them get excited and as they opened the french door and raced out to our deck, I followed them. There they were, ooohing and ahhhing over the double rainbow in the sky.

 

  Mother nature is always teaching me how to walk this earth and my children are reminding me to live in the moment, to enjoy the experience and always, ALWAYS look for beauty and joy. 

This morning I woke up to another beautiful summer day. The sky couldn’t have been more blue. I’m still grieving for my friend and her family, I still feel tremendous pain and hurt from the recent personal attacks towards my board buds and myself, but I’m not going to spend precious life moments being concerned about what others think of me or my friends.

 

I know judgments are largely fear based and if you know anything about me, I try really hard not to live in that place. It’s too dark and it’s also only a matter of perspective. What we don’t understand, what we have been taught to believe, we are scared of. It’s human nature. I think about Christina Rossetti, the poet who lived in a time when women didn’t choose to remain single and work for a living, doing what they were most passionate about. What did her peers say during that time?

 

With the advent of the latest tragedy, and the attacks on the internet, instead of breaking me down, I have been inspired to rise up and be the best “me” that I can be. Can ANY of us ask anything more from ourselves? or others in our lives?

And so today is a day of healing. A day to move forward, for even though I’m grieving, (and some days grief is continuous on this earth don’t ya think?) I need to help all my children continue to stay in a place of being conscious and in the moment. I don’t want them to lose this gift from childhood. It’s a choice…I will keep getting stronger, despite grief and sadness and I will follow my children’s lead and look for the beauty in our world. And perhaps I can help others move through life always with hope in their hearts.

                  

  And what do children love more than fun….it’s when it’s fun and SWEET. Join us in making some old fashion ice cream. It’s easy and delicious.

Our oldest son has worked at the local Science Centre throughout his University years. (he recently received his Science degree) He was originally hired as a summer student to plan science programs for kids but they kept him on throughout the year and he’s been making ice cream, flubber, mento rockets, etc  off and on for 4 years during Saturday Serious fun at the centre. Our younger kids are so lucky to have this Science geek big brother as he LOVES teaching and experimenting with his younger siblings.  It’s the joy of having kids all sorts of ages in our house.

 

Here’s what you need to make Homemade Ice-cream

 

The kids with ice, cream, salt, cocoa, freezer bags….oops where is the vanilla?

 

Ingredients and Supplies

1. 1 Large Freezer Bag

2. 1 Medium Freezer Bag

3. 1 cup of half and half/whipping cream (or even whole milk works)

4. 1/2 cup of salt

5. 2 tbsp of sugar

6. 1 tsp of vanilla

(to make chocolate use 2 tbsp of cocoa)

7. Big bag of ice

Directions:

Add the half and half, the sugar, vanilla and the cocoa into the medium freezer bag. Zip well, making sure most of the air has been removed

Put the medium freezer bag into the large one and surround it with ice and salt. Zip the bigger bag, again removing excess air.

 Now the fun begins and you can pass the large freezer bag around, shaking and turning the larger bag while pressing the medium bag around inside of it. Keep checking the bag with the cream until it becomes the consistency you want your ice cream.

 

Here’s Clark checking to make sure the excess air is out of the bag

 

 

While the kids were taking turns making the ice cream, I was finding toppings…..the skies the limit but we used raspberries, chocolate chips and crumbled chocolate cookies we had made the day before for our toppings. This was just simple fun and again taught another sustainable lesson. Now we just need the cow!

 

On my journey to growing our family and becoming an older mother, I had lots of moments to think about who I am and what I can offer my children. It was while I was sitting in quiet contemplation when most of the insights came to me. Sitting on my yoga mat and thinking, “Be Still And Know I AM.” 

If you are experiencing a tough time right now, or everything in your life is dark, take a moment, sit quietly and just BE Still. Stay present with your breath, allowing it to move in and out, in and out. In time, you will discover you are a piece of everything; loving, limitless, ageless fearless. And peace will come.

  As the last days of summer close, join me in singing a song my kid’s (especially my William (Will I AM) loves to sing in his clear, sweet voice.) Click the hyperlink if you can’t get to the video below. Here’s Will i am, singing, “What I am.” 

 

Want to sing along with us? Here are the lyrics….keep on reaching high!

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful,

Blessings from Hope


“What I Am”
If what I am is what’s in me
Then I’ll stay strong – that’s who I’ll be
And I will always be the best
“me” that I can be.
There’s only one me, I am it
Have a dream I’ll follow it
It’s up to me to try.
Oh! I’m a keep my head up high
Keep on reaching high
Never gonna quit
I’ll be getting stronger.
And nothing’s gonna bring me down (no!)
Never gonna stop, gotta go.
Because I know
I’ll keep getting stronger.
And what I am is thoughtful
What I am is musical
What I am is smart
And what I am is brave
What I am is helpful
What I am is special
There’s nothing I can’t achieve.
Because in myself I believe in oh…
Gonna keep our heads up high
Keep on reaching high
Never gonna quit
Just keep getting stronger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

For there is no friend like a sister in calm or stormy weather; To cheer one on the tedious way, to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters down, to strengthen whilst one stands. Christina Rossetti
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/christinar165077.html?src=t_weather

Homemade Maple Syrup~Simply Delicious

/ Lee Reynolds

“The simple things in life hold our best memories.”

We eat a lot of pancakes in our house. Well, truth be told we also eat a lot of waffles and french toast too. My kid’s favourite thing is to have breakfast for dinner, so if my husband is out of town, I try to brighten up their lives and make things a bit easier on me too by making pancakes or waffles for dinner. I remember as a child, when my Dad was not home for dinner, my mom used to make a large pot of blueberries with dumplings and I thought that was the biggest treat in all the world.

When I opened the fridge recently to find an empty syrup bottle, I had to become really creative, fast, which also opens up the opportunity to find satisfaction in the solution. Sadly, to a degree I think our North American culture has lost that art. We live with so much affluence that when the bottle is empty, we just make note to buy one the next time we are out shopping. But, what if there wasn’t a store nearby to purchase maple syrup?

What do we do?

Just a bit of history first, I’m not normally the pancake or waffle cook in our household. Nope. That would be my dear husband. He has been making pancakes since our oldest was just a toddler, over 20 years ago. He makes pancakes, like I make cookies or soup. He just pulls out all the ingredients and starts pouring and mixing like he knows the perfect combination. And he does. He also knows the exact temperature to cook them at…this is an art!

Not me, when I make waffles or pancakes, I have to refer to my favourite recipe. I used to rummage around looking for our family’s pancake recipe, until I blogged about it last year. Now, at least if I can’t find that little loose piece of paper, which has pulled away from the recipe book that David’s mom gave him when he left home, I can at least find it on my blog. Whew. Because I would hate to disappoint my little people…that is, if I am home alone and having to make pancakes.

While I was contemplating what to put on our waffles recently, and yes, fruit and jam are also options around here, I remembered reading a large family blogger writing about making homemade syrup. At the time I thought, why in the heck would I make my own syrup. After all it’s pretty cheap to buy it in the bottle and my own homemade probably would taste terrible anyway. But that was before I had a stack of waffles slowly growing and warming in the oven and I knew the kids would not be impressed if there wasn’t any syrup.

Between batches, I googled homemade syrup and finally found a couple that I thought sounded simple and easy. NOW that is what I’m looking for in my life. The fact that what I came up with when I combined a few recipes and it turned out to be delicious too, made me so happy. I was tickled pink. An expression my mom may have said.

Plus, there is a whole other side benefit that I LOVE!!!

It’s good for the environment. At least to the degree that every 2 weeks we aren’t using a new plastic bottle of syrup which makes me soooo happy. I love when I can cut down on packaging and also learn to make things myself which is the ultimate in being sustainable.

If you are interested in making your own syrup, that is better than anything you will find in a brown bottle from the grocery store, then check out this recipe. It’s simple sustainable, and yummy.

Hope’s Pancake Syrup

Ingredients

2 cups of water
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of white sugar
Dash of salt
2 tsp of maple extract (vanilla if you don’t have maple)

Directions

Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan and slowly add the brown and white sugar. Mix until dissolved.

 

Turn down to low and stir for a few minutes.
Add sprinkle of salt.

 
 
 Take off heat and add the extract. Cool and pour into a jar…..or do what we did….pour the syrup on the waffles/pancakes while it was still warm.

The first time we used the syrup it was quite runny but it thickened overnight in the fridge and was more the consistency of our bottled syrup.

The kids all loved it but I started thinking about the syrup that I would sometimes buy at our local Super Store. It has 15% real maple syrup in it. Would it even be better if I added some real syrup to my homemade mixture?

When we went to Costco recently we purchased a large jug of real Maple Syrup. We added 1/2 cup to the above recipe and now I have homemade maple syrup with almost the same amount that the expensive maple syrup from Super Store has in it…and guess what? It cost WAY LESS. Although, I have to say that I thought the syrup I made without the real maple syrup was GREAT and didn’t taste much different.

When I told my sister J, about my recent discovery she told me that our mom used to make syrup from left over coffee of all things. I guess she learned a thing or two as a child living in the depression.  I can’t recall ever eating mom’s coffee syrup but then I don’t remember her making pancakes ever. When she married my step-dad, Bud, he did all the pancake cooking on Sunday mornings. It was his thing to do, just like it’s now my husbands tradition.

The more things I learn to make from scratch, the happier I am. I like living a simpler life. I like knowing, when we run out of things, like syrup, that I can make something even tastier than what I buy in a plastic bottle full of preservatives and we can be greener along the way.

So while not eating pure maple syrup isn’t maybe the Canadian thing to do, it is the simple thing to do when you have kids who love their pancakes and waffles. So the next time your syrup bottle is empty, know you have the ability to make life sweeter.

 Victoria and Kate with their favourite breakfast or dinner…waffles with syrup and fruit and smoothie loaded with fruit

.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Homemade Laundry Detergent

/ Lee Reynolds

It’s Monday and laundry day around here. While everyday is laundry day in our large household, Monday is my BIG laundry day.

It’s the day that I try to strip as many sheets off beds as possible. The older kids love Mondays as it’s the day that they don’t have to make their bed. They do have to bring up their comforters and hang them out on the deck and bring me their sheets and pillow cases though. I love Mondays because at the end of a long, tiring day, I fall into bed with crisp, clean sheets and if I have worked really hard, my pillow cases have been ironed with a spritz of lavender water. Oh heaven!

Since we do so much laundry, loads around here and we use tons of laundry detergent, this was one of the big things I wanted to address by becoming more frugal and certainly more green.

The products I use to make my detergent are simple and the bonus is, I don’t use a new plastic jug of laundry detergent every 2 weeks. Yep, that’s right. I normally go through a large jug of detergent every 2 weeks, so finding an alternative solution was important for our family. Even if you don’t use as much detergent as we do though, you may still be wanting to find a less expensive alternative and one that isn’t filling up our landfills.

Over the course of the last year, I have been playing around with a detergent recipe that works for my family and the level of clean I insist upon. Also, we have hard water to consider as well as an HE laundry team. I’m really happy with what I have come up with and I thought, this being laundry day, I would share my homemade detergent recipe with you and maybe if you aren’t already swayed to make your own detergent, this blog post will entice you to try it out.

It takes literally 10 minutes to make this recipe which will last my family 2 months and costs peanuts compared to buying jugs of detergent from the store.

Here is what you need to make:  Hope’s Homestead Laundry Detergent:

1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Oxi Clean product
1 bar of Ivory soap or other
pure or natural soap
Essential oil (opt)
4 cups of water
40 cups of hot water

Now if you are like me and you haven’t been able to locate washing soda, it’s really easy to make your own, which cuts down on more product and packaging because what you are going to use is a staple in your kitchen and in your natural cleaning supply shelf. It’s baking soda.

Take 1 cups of baking soda, (I usually use 2 cups so I have enough for my washing soda jar since I also use washing soda to make my dishwasher detergent) and put it on a baking sheet.

I spread it nice and thin and pop it in the oven at 400 to 425 degrees (everyone’s oven is different) for an hour. When the timer goes off your baking soda has transformed into washing soda. Voila! Cool hey.

Once you have all your ingredients laid out, (Step 1) start by grating your bar of soap and the skies the limit as to the kind you use, but I would recommend a pure soap and one without colour.

I personally love the smell of ivory soap but the scent is also something to take into consideration. I noticed when I was at the grocery store the other day that there were bars of sunlight soap for sale which would be cool if you want that lemony scent in your laundry detergent but a 3 pack of ivory soap was the same price as the 1 bar of sunlight, so I went for frugal. Also, ivory soap reminds me of my babies.

Step 1, grate your soap

Step 2. Boil 4 cups of water in a shallow pan and add your grated soap. I add mine slowly until it is evenly melted and the water is foamy. This can boil over and make a mess so watch it closely.

Step 3. Find a large pail, preferably with a lid and pour 40 cups of hot water in the pail.

I found that an ice cream bucket holds about 10 cups of water, so I would add 4 buckets of HOT water to my larger bucket. I use an old diaper pail, which is the perfect size and fits nicely in my laundry room. Our little girls are still in diapers at night but we go through so few now that the pail is redundant. One thing about growing children, this is ONE area that I’m not feeling bittersweet about, saying goodbye to diapers.

It’s important you find a bucket with a lid because if your kids are like mine, they will drop things inside, plus there is always the concern of children drowning in buckets with liquid. (or animals)

 

 

 

Once you have filled your large bucket with 40 cups of HOT water, (Step 4), you can add 1 cup of borax, 1 cup of washing soda and 1 cup of your oxi clean product. Mix them in the water until they have dissolved really well.

Step 5. You can now add the foamy soapy water mixture from you pan. Be careful as this can easily splash and burn you. My little one is looking on so I was being very slow and careful as I poured it into the bucket. I normally make this after the kids are in bed for the night. It takes even less time and it’s all ready to go in the morning when I start washing all over again.

And now for the final step, (Step 6) mix it ALL really well. I use a long wooden spoon to stir it.

 

That’s it! Close the lid and leave it over night to set up.

In the morning you will find that it has thickened considerably and has a layer of gel like soap on the top. I mix it again really well and at this point I add my essential oil to the mix. Lavender is my all time favourite as it’s also a disinfectant but you can choose whatever you would like…or nothing at all. Personally, I love the ivory along with the lavender but let your nose be your guide.

The final thing I do, is put some detergent into a reusable jug above my washer and dryer. If I have to pre-soak some extra dirty clothes before washing, the jug makes it easy for me to grab. I have a sink next to my washing machine and I keep a bucket there for any items that need to pre-soak. I have to tell you that I use this detergent to clean our children’s all in one, Kawaii’s cloth diapers without any problem. They have never lost their absorbency and they wash up beautifully. I always pre-soak the diapers before washing as well in this mixture.

For my HE washing machine, I just add whatever amount needed depending on the load of clothes I’m washing.

Two scoops usually does the job. The scoop I use is shown above, next to the jug of detergent.

Happy Washing! I’m grateful to have a laundry basket full of dirty clothes. When my kids come in from outside dirty, I know they have been having fun.

Well, that was a good days work and boy am I ready for those clean sheets tonight.

Thanks for joining me today. Let me know whether I have converted you to the cleaner/greener side of life.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Homemade dishwasher detergent

/ Lee Reynolds

 

As I grieve over the fact that our oldest daughter has moved to the other side of the world and I miss her terribly, I realize that I can’t just lay in bed and be sad. The thing about having other children is that you have no choice. You have to get up and do what needs doing each day. Oh that reminds me of a wonderful poem I read years ago and I’d love to share it with you now.  The poem is an excerpt from the book called, “The Invitation,” by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. Have you read it?

If you are needing the recipe for the dishwasher detergent, because that is eventually the destination of this post, please scroll down to the bottom of the page. Otherwise if you are able and willing to take a diverted path with me, I think there will be a point to this post and it will be about  more than clean dishes.

But who knows, have you ever started on a path and “thought” it was taking you in a certain direction and you ended up being somewhere totally unexpected. Sometimes my posts are like that. We will see where this path takes us.

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The Invitation

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it, or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, ‘Yes.’

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.


Isn’t is amazing? If you haven’t read anything by Oriah check out her writing.I love that part in the poem that talks about wanting to connect with someone who can get up after a night of grief and despair, bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

 

There have many times in my life where I have had to do just that. The day after having an ultrasound, and learning that our much wanted “Soulbaby’s” heart beat had stopped, I had no choice but to go on. I awoke the next morning to light, even though I was surrounded by a grey fog of grief. All around me were happy, chirping voices of our children, waking up for the day and I had to get up. I had to feed them, and care for them. I had to love them. I had to keep going.

The really wonderful lesson I learned during that time of waiting for my body to say good bye to our baby, (my body didn’t want to miscarry) was that grief is full of grace .It takes us into a deeper dimension of human experience, floods us with pain and as waves of grief wash over us, we have glimpses into another realm.  A place of peace. I recall waking each morning to a living night mare, waiting for my body to let go, only to find a hungry little one asking, “what’s for breakfast.” I was humbly grateful for the children already in my care. They anchored me to this life and allowed me to see the beauty in the world. Loving those ones and loosing others, are all part of the experience we call life.

And while letting go of our oldest can’t even compare to that time of grief, or others I have felt, for she is very much alive and well. We are excited for her to continue her life’s journey, I’m still so sad that she will not share my day to day life events. I will miss making carrot cake for her and seeing her smile as she savours it. I will miss the smell of her fresh, sweet scent and oh the music that filled the house as she played on her piano will leave an echo of longing in me.

But today, I realize that the dishes still need to be washed, the children need to be fed, the house needs cleaning. I must nurture the children remaining and allow their childhood memories to flourish so they can carry them out into the world just as their big sister is doing now.

What is the big drama going on in your life? What do you think is really going on and what are you learning from your experience and situation?

Is there a “mundane” task that can be taken on with sacred appreciation so you can find joy in the moment?

And so FINALLY, after much ado…the dishes. Those dirty dishes ground us!
 

 

We renovated our kitchen a number of years ago and bought a highly regarded Bosch dishwasher with a stainless steel drum and enough cycles to confuse a person but it has never cleaned our dishes really well. 

 

Sorry it’s a fuzzy pic…but here is my kitchen…our dishwasher is next to our sink

I have tried all the various cycles on our dishwasher. I’ve experimented with all the various top selling dishwasher detergents, as well as tried a few final rinse products but our dishes never get really clean. I don’t think I’m the only one either. I was really getting tired of watching my children pull the glasses and dishes from the cupboards and scrutinize them with a discerning eye which made me feel like I was a horrible housekeeper. Occasionally I would tell them that they need to go and live in a third world country for awhile to appreciate a clean dish here, well almost clean anyway. Then several times this year we had their friends visit and as my children inspected cups to serve their guests, their friends would say, oh yeah we have to do that at our house too. Hmmmm.

This summer during one of the weeks that I was trying to stretch our budget and during another of my rants on how we were  drowning in product packaging, I found this really great recipe for dishwasher detergent. You know what it works. REALLY WORKS! at cleaning our dishes.

The first time I used my new homemade dishwasher bombs, they left my dishes squeaky clean. So if you are interested in having clean dishes too, THEN check out this recipe and make a batch for your family. It’s this kind of stuff that keeps me grounded on this earth and thankful to have another day to experience life. Even when it is tinged with sadness and grief. Oh and the best part, it costs next to nothing, the ingredients are in any well stocked kitchen as they are used in many cleaning and baking recipes and it’s all environmentally friendly with no toxins. You gotta love that.

Hope’s homemade dishwasher detergent  

Ingredients

1 cup of washing soda ~if you have difficulty finding this…you can make it…see below~
1 cup baking soda
3 tbsp of citric acid
1 cup of coarse salt
1 cup of water
Opt: Essential Oil of your choice…Lavender or Tea Tree Oil are a disinfectant

I didn’t have any citric acid in my house so I used the lemonade mix my best friend gave me during her last visit…first ingredient…citric acid…voila. Thanks Tamara!

If you are unable to find washing soda, all you have to do is place 1 cup of baking soda in a baking sheet for 1 hour at 425 degrees F, spread it thinly and it will magically transform into washing soda. My sciency son Clark was impressed the first time I made this and he reminded me how important chemistry is in our lives.

Directions

In a medium size bowl mix all the ingredients together. If you are wanting a powdered detergent you are done after adding all the dry ingredients. Just put it in a container with a scoop and enjoy.

I added water to the mix though. Once you add water the mixture will fizz for a few minutes. Once the fizzing has stopped you can mix it further. This hardens rather fast so you need to work quickly. Take a teaspoon size scoop and mash the mixture into individual ice cube trays or you can make little balls like I did and lay them on a cookie sheet to dry for 24 hours.

Letting my “bomb” dry in our laundry room

When they are firm you can put them in a container and start using them. If you want to add any essential oil just add it with the water. I added lavender to our first batch which had a lovely lemon and lavender scent.

I found the perfect container to put under my sink

When I have a pot or pan that is unusually dirty, I just mash a bomb into the soaking pan and let it sit overnight and in the morning I easily clean it. Sometimes you have to take the gritty mixture and scrub the pot with it so it’s really clean. I love this so I have also eliminated scrubbing pads.

 

I want to also share that I have stopped adding any type of rinsing solution to my dishwasher and now only add a few tbsps of vinegar to my machine. Results: clean, green dishes.

You know I was thinking about my great grandmothers and all the work they had to perform before the invention of  appliances and convenient kitchen products, theyhey also lived in a time when there was a lot of grief. I mean my own grandmother had 8 children, of whom only 6 made it through childhood, also there were childhood diseases and accidents, all more mainstream than they are now so having a lot more housework and just keeping their families fed took enormous amounts of energy. Maybe this was how they were able to cope with living in those times.

Being more sustainable is trendy now. It is certainly a greener choice and one of frugality but there is another side benefit; it allows us to be mindfully connected by doing simple chores and remembering that although feeling whatever drama is occurring in our lives is an important aspect of this earthly experience, being grateful for the small things in life gives us the greatest joy. Who knew, clean dishes was so huge!

Until I see you again, may you be well, happy, and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies

/ Lee Reynolds

What makes you happy? For me, chocolate is right up there. Up there with eating chocolate, is making something chocolatey for someone I love. So on the heels of expanding my happiness quotient, I decided to share my recipe for Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies, CHOCOLATE, ice cream sandwich cookies. Just for you. Expanding happiness everywhere. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family did.

Will with the last bite of his ice cream sandwich

When I was at the grocery store recently I “almost” picked up a box of 4 ice cream sandwich cookies for my kids, a few of my kids. The cost was around $5.00 for this box, so  to feed my family it would have cost me at least $10.00 for 8 cookies. A few of us however would be looking on longingly. I made double that amount for half  the cost. It was healthier, PLUS, no packaging required.

First you need to make a batch of our
Country Fair Cookies

Ingredients

11/2 cups of butter
2 cups of sugar (your choice on how you sweeten it)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla…or other extract flavouring of your choice
2 cups of flour
11/2 cups of cocoa mix
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp of salt
1 cup of adders of your choice…we use more chocolate..a cup of chocolate chips.

Directions:

In a large bowl beat 11/2 cups of butter until whipped. Gradually add 2 cups of sugar. Mix well.

Add two eggs, one at a time and beat until well mixed.

Add 2 tsp of vanilla or flavouring of your choice
Now add the dry ingredients together as well as 1 cup of chocolate chips, nuts or whatever you want in your cookies at this time.
This mixture takes awhile to come together so mix well, until you can make balls of dough.
Place one inch balls on a greased cookie sheet and press down….I also make a few larger balls for the bigger kids.

Before I bake the cookies I shake some coloured sprinkles on a few of the cookies.

(This cookie sheet has made thousands upon thousands of cookies…it doesn’t look great but it’s sacred in my kitchen)

Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes. When you bring them out of the oven, let them sit for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before lifting them off so they set up. Then let them cool fully on racks. I put them into the freezer before I start spreading ice cream  between them.

 

Now the best part of making these ice cream sandwich cookies is next. Decide what kind of ice cream you want to put between the cookies…the choice is ENDLESS.  Personally, I like old fashion vanilla ice cream between this chocolate cookie.
 Our oldest son likes to make ice cream from scratch for the kids at the Science center where he works in the summer….they think he is awesome.
Here’s  how to make homemade ice cream
Now take the ice cream and with a spoon and butter knife spread the ice cream on one half, then put the other cookie on the other side. Press gently. If you push too hard, you will break the cookies, (and oh gee, you will have to eat that one) but it helps if you have frozen the cookies slightly before you work with them.
You can eat them right away but they taste even better when you have allowed them to set up in the freezer and you can pull them out the next time you want to spread some happiness.
 TA- DA!

 

Ta da, chocolate cookies with ice cream. Summer happiness.

 

These are girls after my own heart. They love chocolate.
Until I see you again, may you be well, happy with chocolate and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope

 

Homemade Pizza night

/ Lee Reynolds

It’s Friday fun night and I’m planning to make a pizza or two for my crowd. We have chicken left over from last night so I’m thinking my weight lifting teenagers will opt for that instead of “peasant food” which is what our oldest son calls pizza. Then he regales us with the history of pizza. He’s a science major at our local University and a bit of a know it all about everything.

My oldest son brought home some dry ice from the Science Centre where he works in the summer time. This is him drinking something with that ice. He is always regaling us with his vast knowledge about sciency stuff and of course peasant food.

Suffice it to say, he will eat our chicken so I’m thinking I will make one big pizza.

Classic Cheese on one side and a veggie on the other for those of us who like eating stuff from the garden, us peasants. Which is most of our family, thank heavens!

So help me by grating the cheese and cutting up the veggies and I will make the crust.

Here’s how I make one large pizza crust that is thick and holds lots of veggies. If you like your crust thinner and crispy just add a bit more flour and split the dough in half and spread it on two pans. We like ours thick….which our oldest also says, ‘”is not a true pizza crust, it’s suppose to be thin”

Hope’s Homemade Pizza Crust recipe

Ingredients

3 cups of flour
1 tsp of sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
11/2 cups of warm water
1 tbsp yeast (I buy the quick rising kind from Costco’s…it’s in a large box for around $5.00 dollars.)
1 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Non stick spray for the pizza pan

Kate and Tori help to mix the dough

Directions

Add 11/2 cups of warm water to a large bowl
Sprinkle the yeast on the top of the water and let it sit for at least 5 minutes

Mix the flour (and I like to use unbleached white with some whole wheat…the combination can be your choice…We like 1/2 and 1/2 but if you aren’t use to whole wheat flour use less at first)
the sugar and the salt together until well combined.

Then take a fork and make sure the yeast is mixed really well into the warm water…it should be frothy. Then add your tbsp of olive oil and mix well again.

Finally, add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix really well. When a ball has formed I start to turn it over and over kneading it like bread with my hands. I continue to mix until all the flour is worked in. This usually takes about 2 minutes. Sometimes it’s still sticky and if that is the case, then add a tiny bit of flour to the mixture so your hands don’t stick but not too much or your crust will be heavy.

Then I let the dough sit in the bowl with a damp cloth on top for at least 15 minutes. The longer you let it sit the more it will rise but I’m usually making mine right before dinner so I don’t have time to let it rise higher.

While you are waiting for it to rise you can grate the cheese and cut up all the veggies.

Grace Elizabeth grates the cheese

The combinations are endless and like my chocolate chip cookies, my pizza’s always turn out a bit different each time. It’s endlessly interesting and delicious. I can’t believe the days that we used to order pizza out.

After the 15 minutes are up you can spread your dough on your lightly sprayed pizza pan. If you want you can let the crust sit on the pan to rise once again…another 15 minutes makes it light and soft and you will have an even chewier crust.

 

 

You can make pizza sauce from scratch or use your fav spaghetti sauce

Spreading the pizza sauce of your choice is the next step…..I just use whatever we have in the house. Usually it’s the organic tomato sauce from Costco’s but this year it’s going to be from my own tomatoes as I have planted enough to keep us going all year. Stay tuned later this summer for all my “what to do with the tomatoes posts.”

So that’s it for the crust.  Now let the creativity begin by letting your palate be your guide. Whatever we have growing n the garden or in the fridge is what I throw on our pizza.

Right now we have red onion, spinach, mince garlic (from my garden…I’m thrilled with my garlic this year.) basil, tomatoes (sadly, from the store, hey I’m in Canada and we are just starting to see them turn colour now, although I did have a few red cherry ones that were yummy) and of course zucchini and feta cheese. For the cheese side of the pizza just pile on the mozzerella cheese and some cheddar…our kids like that and a bit of parmesan cheese too.

And  voila!

A few weeks ago my sisters C and J were in town and I made them my new pesto sauce pizza….it was delish….I will for sure do a post on making pesto so you can try it out. It is amazing if you like basil and garlic. But try anything you like and you can’t go wrong with a Friday night fun food like pizza. I think I will pull out an apron and an old hat when my older son comes home and welcome him to peasant land. It’s a good place to be.

I also made a Kale Salad to go with our pizza and some cut up cucumbers and carrots from our garden as well. Did you know that Kale was also peasant food in the ‘ole days. Nobler folks wouldn’t touch it. Last summer I was reading how marvelous Kale was…a top 10 healthy food choice for sure. Oh that makes me think of doing another blog post on my green Kale drink….stay tuned for that.

Well, if you have gotten to know me at all bu reading my first few blog posts, I often write a novella so I will stop here and get on with cleaning up the kitchen….that is a picture I won’t show you but I’m sure you can imagine what it looks like when you have kids helping you and you are trying to write your blog. We also made homemade ice cream sandwiches this afternoon as well. (for another blog post day) If you could smell the chocolate wafting from my kitchen you would be in heaven (that is if you like chocolate….we love it around here)

So bon appetite!

 

My taste tester, who has been painting the living room

You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients. – Julia Child

Until then, may you be well, happy, tummy full and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope