Busy Homemaker's Day

I'd like to welcome a new reader, Tadia from Australia.  Thanks for joining the blog.  You make number 26. 

Since it has been cold and rainy here, I have been staying home.  I accepted a challenge to organize the pantry, which I finished this morning.  It was much easier than when I started a few months back.  I'm almost satisfied with the way it's organized this time.  The time it took was less than an hour as compared to the few days I focused on it in the fall.  What do you think?

Before.  Not too bad.  Certainly better than when I began the project in the fall.

After.  There was no waste this time, just organizing.

The kitchen counters were cleared and cleaned with home made cleaner of vinegar and citrus peels.  This is easy to make by brining citrus peels covered in vinegar for 2 weeks.  Before using, fill half of a spray bottle with the strained vinegar solution then add water to fill the bottle.  It takes close to no time to make with a little patience to wait for the vinegar to absorb the goodness of the peels.  Since vinegar and citrus has antiseptic properties, my counters were clean with few germs left to multiply.

Bread was in the cold oven drying waiting to turn into bread crumbs.  This morning was the moment chosen to complete that task.  I got 2 full cups of bread crumbs from stale home made bread.  They will get used for fried chicken.

I got a full two cups of bread crumbs from this batch.  All from home made bread.

Two loads of laundry done, but not yet put away.  One of the loads was drying while I made butter from the left over heavy cream that was hanging out in the refrigerator.  I started with 10 ounces of cream, but took two ounces away to make whipped cream for the jello I made.  I'll put the instructions below for anyone who is interested in making whipped cream. 

The rest of the cream went into the stand mixer - after I decided it was better to dirty that than to stand holding the hand mixer for what seemed like forever.  All that butter is, is cream whipped until it separates from the liquid whey.  This can take a while.  I like my butter salted so I put a pinch of salt in the cream before I began to whip it.  The 8 ounces of cream made I/4 pound of butter and 3/4 cup of whey.

The whey enhances things like pancakes and bread.  In place of using water the whey adds vitamins to the meal, not to mention a yummy taste treat.

Let's get back to the laundry.  I'm putting a picture below of a folded load (Some things were hung up.)  Please notice how neatly the clothes are folded.  Do you know why?  Because I live alone and have the time to take to fold things neatly.  When I had four kids and a husband to take care of it was a totally different story.  These days I do two loads a week.  Back then I did a minimum of three loads a day.  My husband told me to just hang his work clothes in the basement so he could get dressed in the morning without waking anyone.  The rest of us - on many occasions - dressed in front of the dryer, after we fluffed the clothes that sat in it over night.  That's the reality.  Domestic goddesses don't have to worry about large families and blue collar husbands.  They get on TV and tell us what to do, but forget they have people to do their domestic work for them.

This is what folded laundry looks like when the only responsibility a person has is to themselves.  A far cry from when I was caring for a family.

The most important part of family life is interacting and feeding the family in as healthy a manner as your budget allows.  Everything else comes in second, even a spotless toilet.  I'm not advocating a filthy environment.  I'm only saying other things can be done on a schedule.  After all, Martha Stewart will not be visiting your home any time soon.  If she did, you can bet it would be a day when you didn't clean the toilet or fold the laundry.


ORANGE (CITRUS) CLEANER  Found somewhere on the internet.

Fill a quart jar with citrus peel.  You can freeze the peels until you have enough to fill the jar.  Fully cover the peels with white vinegar.  Let stand in a dark spot (cupboard works well) for 2 weeks.  Before use dilute with water in a 50:50 ratio.

I use this on counters, sinks, and bath fixtures.

HOME MADE BUTTER

The amount of cream you use doesn't matter.  I make butter before the expiration date arrives.
Pour the cream in a bowl and add a small pinch of salt.  You can leave the salt out if you like.  Beat on medium until the whey (liquid) separates from the cream (solid).  Pour the whey in a container for use in baking later on.  This can be frozen.  Gather the solid butter left in the bowl and shape into whatever shape you like.  Cover and refrigerate.   The beating takes a few minutes before the butter is formed, so don't get discouraged.