High or Low -Where Should It Go?

Many houses in this day and age have air conditioning, whether central air or other means, and so the temperature of the kitchen is fairly regulated. We do not have air conditioning in our home which requires that I focus a bit on where items are stored in the kitchen.

Heat rises and therefore the higher cupboards of the kitchen will be hotter, and for longer, than those lower cupboards and drawers. Heat affects the quality of our food. In regards to foods that spoil, such as oils in containers that have been opened and nuts, I do not keep them in the cupboards. So what foods are best kept low, and which are safe in the upper cupboards? Here is how we do it in our kitchen, year round:

Upper cupboards: 

• Teas
• Instant coffee
• Salt
• Boxed noodles
• Dried beans

Middle cupboards:

• Cereals (cold, with no fruits, such as Cheerios)
• Hot cereal (oatmeal, grits, barley, etc)
• Flour
• Baking powder, soda, and other such products
• Sugar
• Coffee beans or ground
• Hot cocoa, apple cider mixes

Lower cupboards:

• Cereals (cold, with added fruit, and granola- if not refrigerated)
• Baking chips (unless it is summer, they go in the freezer then)
• Cans (meats, vegetables)
• Oil (before being opened)
• Peanut butter (before being opened)
• Mayonnaise (before being opened)
• Salad dressings (before being opened)
• Water (especially when in plastic containers)

I know I've not touched on everything that is in our cupboards. I use the mentality that if it can spoil, then it needs to be kept cooler, and lower. If it is fairly 'dry' then it can go up high. If it's a can, it goes low, so that it won't explode! It does get fairly hot in our house during the summer.

There are some things that we leave on the counter because I don't want them in a cupboard where they cannot be seen yet do not require refrigeration. Those are things such as bananas, apples, occasionally a loaf of bread, and some vegetables, such as my garden tomatoes and zucchini. When it is really hot during the summer, I do put these in the fridge. And if in doubt, I put it in the fridge.

All above images are public domain, source: http://www.pdclipart.org

I’m linking this post up with Making a Home at Linda’s Lunacy, where we can share posts about homemaking ideas, recipes, crafts, decorating, cleaning tips, basically anything that has to do with caring for a home and family.

Pets–Adding a Little Extra

I know that not all families have pets. Some people have allergies that prevent them from taking that step while others just choose not to have any, for whatever reason. When I was talking to my dd, Lee, about what things she thinks of when she hears “Making a Home”, pets was one of the first things she thought of {doing dishes was the very first lol}.

Growing up I always had dogs and cats. Sometimes we even had birds. My mother loved fish as well. My dh also had dogs and cats. His were outside animals where my were a mix of both inside and outside animals. When we had kids, it didn’t take long for them to start asking for a pet.

The title of my post is about the little extra that pets add to a family. When our kids asked for a cat {they figured that a cat was the safest to ask for- dogs you had to clean up the yard after they went pooh; they dig holes in the yard; they had to be walked, if you didn’t have a yard; dogs chewed on shoes and furniture; dogs are more dependent; etc.} we made them list all the new responsibilities a cat would add to our family.

The obvious costs {literal in terms of money as well as of time} were food, litter and cleaning up after the cat. They didn’t quite figure in all the time that the cat would take for play or how much sleep would be lost while it roamed through the house at night, jumping on counters and tables, knocking over the trash… Those ‘costs’ were figured out soon enough though.

Fortunately our cat, Kawaii, has been a very good cat. She rarely jumps on counters and never on the table {so far}. I do pay a little more than I like for food for her but she doesn’t cough up hairballs and isn’t sick very often {only once so far and she’s almost 3 years old}. If she’s happy, then I’m happy {for the most part}. When we were seriously considering if a cat was right for us, we found a checklist for us to fill in the costs and responsibilities of cat ownership. I wish I had saved the checklist. I did not but here is a good page to give an idea of the costs {financial} of cat ownership. For us in particular, I will break down our costs:

Food: $13.00 (about, with tax) once a month. It’s not specialty food but it is what we’ve found that works for her; she doesn’t have hairballs and stays relatively satisfied
Litter: $9.00 (about, with tax) every 6 weeks. There is less expensive brands but it keeps the odor down –a must for us.
Vet: Initial visit, $65-70 (we even got a ‘free’ collar); subsequent visits, once a year, (for shots) $16-30; emergency visit, $25 + a few dollars for medicine (she had a respiratory infection)

If we figure that in a year (including the emergency visits –which we’ve only had one but it’s good to have it in there anyway as a buffer for if you do need it):
Food: $156
Litter box: $34 (ours is a nifty one that you just turn the entire box and do not have to touch the litter)
Litter: $36
Vet visits for the first year: $70
               for subsequent years: $55
Total first year: $296
        subsequent years: $247

Of course we also buy her a toy now and again (nothing more than $5) and some treats (usually $2). That is very rarely though so it might add to the total $14 a year. She doesn’t go to the groomer and she’s not required anything out of the ordinary.

But an animal, –cat, dog, fish, bird, tortoise/turtle, etc. –can add a lot to a home. For us, having a cat, the joy of seeing her when we come home from an outing, her purrs, her ‘headbutts’ {which we consider to be signs of affection}, the smiles she brings when we play with her, all those far outweigh the cost and responsibilities of having her. She’s even weaseled her way into dh’s heart –they have an understood relationship.

I’m linking this post up with Making a Home at Linda’s Lunacy, where we can share posts about homemaking ideas, recipes, crafts, decorating, cleaning tips, basically anything that has to do with caring for a home and family.

It’s *GOOD* to Take My Kids to the Store

Many mothers would rather leave the kids home when they go grocery shopping. When they are, oh, I don’t know, between the age of crawling and about 6, I agree *grin*. It’s even more difficult when you have more than two. Not that I’d really know much about that, since I only have two.

My kids are older –almost 16 and almost 13 {wish I could just say they *are* 16 and 13…but soon, soon enough} so I find it is good to take them to the store.  On our last trip to the store, for major grocery shopping, dd asked me if I would teach her how to shop. You bet!

Although being at the store isn’t necessarily making a home, what you bring home certainly is. It is a skill that a lot of people do not have any longer with the fast food consumption in this country. This post will be about what I am going to do not what I’ve actually done.

I already include the kids in figuring out what we need to put on our grocery list to take shopping with us. Perhaps how to make an appropriate list is worth ‘teaching’ at some point also. Most of the time they are really good about being sensible. Very rarely does “candy” seriously make it to the list {and it doesn’t make it into the cart even if it did}. After the list is made –and checked more than twice {I always forget something!}, we head out.

I do try to get the best for my money but I don’t often do coupons. Perhaps before the time comes for me to actually ‘teach’ my oldest how to grocery shop, I will get familiar with it. I know many who get great deals with couponing.

I’d suggest to my dd that she go to a store that she knows will have the majority of the items she needs, if not all, so that she doesn’t waste fuel. Driving around town can often eat up the money saved using those coupons. Perhaps find coupons for that store to help save.

So here is what we will do:

• Grab our list. Seriously, we will be checking it a few times. Right up to the point of walking out the door.
• Grab a calculator. If I don’t have one {honestly I don’t usually take one} I will make sure I have a piece of paper and a pencil.
• Grab our bags. We have a nice collection of BYOB {Bring-Your-Own-Bags}. We don’t always remember them and sometimes I do *need* the plastic ones from the store for kitty litter. Which reminds me, I want to start switching to paper bags for that.

Once we are at the store we will go about it in this order:

• Boxed, dried, non-perishable foods first. This is bread, juice, crackers, canned foods, etc.
• Frozen foods. Veggies, frozen dinners {we don’t get those often}, etc.
• Fresh fruit.
• Fresh meat and veggies. I don’t put fruit in this category because generally they can stand to be ‘out’ longer than the meats and fresh veggies.

In each category as we shop we will do this:

• Compare brands and sizes. We’re not generally picky brand-only people but sometimes there is a definite difference between the ‘off brand’ and the ‘name brand’. Only sometimes will I choose name brand over generic. Usually price wins. And sometimes it is more cost effective to buy in ‘bulk’ but not if it’s not going to get used. We aren’t going to buy a brand-name smaller size item that costs more than a generic larger quantity item {unless it’s one of those items we just ‘cannot’ buy generic lol- thankfully I have weaned my hubby of this almost completely *wink*}
• Check unit prices. Most stores now have the handy price per ___ on the shelf tag but there are some that still do not. In those cases, the calculator comes in handy.
• Add the cost to the our tally sheet. Do not forget an item. Budgeting isn’t something we’ve really gone over in our house {yet} but all know that the amount we have for food is all we have.
• Get all that is needed first then go back for the ‘extras’ if there is enough funds left over. Sugar is a nice luxury but we don’t need it like we do toilet paper.

And finally- and I do think this is important- if possible, bag your own groceries. I can’t even recount how many times a shampoo will end up with my meats.  Also when you bag your own, you know that like foods/items are going to be together. No peanut butter with the string cheese {not too bad…}or bread under the apples. *shudder*

Since my kids have been going with me to do the shopping for many years now, I think all the above tips are something I take for granted that my kids know. As it gets closer to the times that they will move onto taking this into their own hands, I will definitely be more diligent about my ‘teaching’ in this area.

I’m linking this post up with Making a Home at Linda’s Lunacy, where we can share posts about homemaking ideas, recipes, crafts, decorating, cleaning tips, basically anything that has to do with caring for a home and family.

Laundry- So many ways?

Laundry is the nemesis of so many mothers {fathers and children, too! they just don’t know it} everywhere. Not having clean clothes is sure to put a damper on plans real quick. Yep, you can nod your head to that one.

Exhibit at Jay Em, Wyoming

My kids have been doing laundry since they were about 10 and 7 {or so}. At first it was just a load here and there of their own clothes. As the years went on, however, they started to be given more responsibility to watch more loads and …dun dun dun…other people’s clothes.

Now they are almost 16 and almost 13- they know how to wash clothes! Or do they?

Just like every new skill that is learned, it is necessary to check up on the results at times and to give constructive criticism about how they are doing. Naturally. It’s part of teaching our kids how to be self-sufficient for when they are on their own.

The reason I’ve titled my post “So many ways?” is because my kids –having been taught one way to do laundry –never seem to do it just that way. Here’s how I have taught them to do laundry.

1. Sort the clothes into whites, lights {or ‘medium’}, darks. If an article of clothing has both dark and light, then it is light {my thinking is that if it is created with many colors, they won’t run off on each other, it’s safe to be with other lights but if washed with darks, the darks of other clothes could run off on the lights}.
2. Check pockets. Every pocket. Twice for boys and men. Yes, twice.
3. Measure soap according to size of load and put in washer. When we use store bought detergent it’s fairly easy to know that it’s going to take a capful. Nevermind that it says a medium size load only takes 1/4-1/2 cap. {Maybe we are just really dirty people - it always takes more.} When using my homemade soap, 1 full scoop is good for a large load. Usually our loads are large.
4. Set dials –to correct load size –generally between medium to oversize;  water temperature to cold {very rarely do we use warm or hot –for rags, hand towels, towels and undies we do use hot}.
5. Turn washer on. I have them turn the water on before putting in the clothes to lessen the chance of spots on the clothes from the detergent. Not that I’ve ever had that happen, actually.
6. Load clothes.

And that’s how laundry is washed. The drying is easy. Put it in dryer, set dry to to just above “Less dry”, right below “More dry”, and press start.

Six years or so of the same instructions but sometimes I find that the washer is set to warm water, mini load –for a large load of darks. Hmmm. Or the three color sorting system morphs into one color somehow. Fortunately our clothes have never been speckled {well, there was that one time…} or our whites turned pink.

Either way, I’m fairly confident that my kids can wash clothes. Now, folding them, hanging them up and/or ironing…that’s a different story for a different time.

Here’s a how-to for washing clothes from wikiHow. It is a wee bit more involved than my steps (check the fabric type, don’t wash towels and sheets together, etc). Or here’s a youtube video for how to wash clothes, without a washer {that’s how I did it when I first taught myself –but I used the tub}.

I’m linking this post up with Making a Home at Linda’s Lunacy, where we can share posts about homemaking ideas, recipes, crafts, decorating, cleaning tips, basically anything that has to do with caring for a home and family.