We Haven’t Starved Yet

April 12, 2008 By Leave a Comment

So we’ve been working on our No MSG quest (we meaning, me, myself, and I–of course!) for a few days now and I am happy to report that nobody has gone hungry.

I have been able to relax a little bit, going ahead and using up the regular foods that we already had opened pre-quest, even though they aren’t perfect.  I figure that this buys me some time to just work on finding replacements for the things that we’re out of, and later I can work on the other stuff.  It is getting kind of routine for the kids to ask for something (ie:  right now they are eating the leftover ice cream from a birthday party awhile back) and me to tell them yes, followed by a comment that goes something like this:  “Enjoy it because it might be the last time we ever have that in this house.”  They look at me with some fear at that point, and I just smile and tell them that I’m sure (SURE!!) that we will be able to find a suitable substitute.  :)

I did go through my pantry and bagged up every baddy-cat food that hadn’t yet been opened, and actually returned it all to the store.  There weren’t very many of those, fortunately, but what there was I knew I didn’t want to use and would much rather have the money to spend on salad stuff.  :)

Right now we are in the midst of getting ready for my husband’s parents to visit us from out of state, so I don’t have the time to share every recipe that we’re using to live :) but maybe after that I *might*.  (many of them are in my ebooks, anyhow, so probably a lot of you already have those)  Big, fat salads are definitely on my food agenda every day, and that makes me feel like I’m taking good care of myself, which is a plus.

In case any of you are wondering if I came up with any brilliant recipes for the bread-gone-wrong, the answer is no.  (not for lack of information, I’m sure.  Just for lack of time to work on that particular project.)  The kids have eaten most of it, some remaining pieces were turned into French Toast for tonite’s dinner, and the rest will probably end up as bread crumbs, which is a worthy and noble end for unloved bread.  :)

Filed Under: food, No MSG, Supermom Says...

Introducing BabyGanics Family-Safe Household Cleaners

April 11, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I’ve enjoyed using various non-toxic and all-natural cleaners in my home for many years. However, the one thing that always bothered me about some of them was that I bought them through multi-level marketing businesses that required me to sign up or pay a yearly membership fee in order to purchase their products. What a drag! Inevitably, I’d run out of my cleaner about a week after my yearly membership was done. Sure, the cleaner was only $12, but I had to pay over $30 to get “in” again. No thanks!

I’m so glad that I found out about BabyGanics. This company features wonderful cleaning products that are safe for people, pets, and the environment. It is non-toxic, organic, and all-natural.

BabyGanics products have

No fillers

No chemicals

No VOCs

No pollutants

and are Non-caustic.

I’ve been trying out the products in my home for several weeks now to see if they are any good, and I am happy to say that I can definitely recommend these to you.

There are four different cleaning products available:

All-Purpose Household Cleaner

Glass and Surface Cleaner

Tub and Tile Cleaner

Floor Cleaner Concentrate

All four products come in either unscented or lavender scent.

From now until Monday I’m running a Pre-Order Special on BabyGanics. Since I do not know which products you folks are going to be most interested in, I decided to offer these cleaners at a much lower price than I will normally be able to, in exchange for you placing your orders before they come in.

It’s easy:

Order as usual.

When the products come in (probably late next week) I will fill the orders ASAP, as always. :)

The only “catch” is that your entire order will have to wait here and be sent all at once when the BabyGanics arrive.

So if you want to get a good deal on BabyGanics, Click Here!

Filed Under: Deals and Steals, Household stuff, product reviews

Making Lemons Into Lemonade, or: What to do when you don’t make the bread right.

April 11, 2008 By Leave a Comment

So today my daughter asked me to bake bread.  I baked my own whole wheat bread for years, then when Life Happened I switched to whatever was healthiest at my grocery store (Baker’s Inn).  Then I started making the effort to drive 45+ minutes to Great Harvest bread where I can get honey whole wheat that is freshly baked every day.  I would get about a month’s worth of bread at a time, and stick it in the freezer.

Well, we’re down to the end of our supply, so my daughter suggested I bake.  I’m still trying to use up some bargain organic milk that I picked up last week at Kroger (I got a whole gallon of Horizons organic whole milk for about $2.69.  Then I watered it down about 50% to get an even bigger bargain.  Though we don’t often use milk, I decided to take advantage of that deal, and I’ve been looking for ways to use milk ever since.  (nobody here drinks milk, so it all goes into recipes)

It has been so long since I baked my own bread that I had a hard time remembering the recipe.  Finally, I got it all done, baked, and when pulling it out of the oven I realized that I FORGOT THE HONEY!  Wah!

Yeah, 100% whole wheat is better for you.  But I was really looking forward to that honey whole wheat…..

I had to leave the house right after taking the break out of the oven, and while driving I realized that even if nobody liked the 100% whole wheat bread, that I could save the day by turning the bread into healthy bread crumbs (just whiz it all up and stick it in a ziploc bag in the freezer) , or homemade croutons or stuffing mix.  I’m going to search for some recipes for those since I’ve never done either one.  I’m sure it can’t be too hard, though.  Right?

Filed Under: recipes, Supermom Says...

Freaking Out About MSG, Part 2

April 10, 2008 By 2 Comments

Actually, it wasn’t all that easy getting out the door to the store. I had no meal plan made. And I didn’t have all 5 dozen code names for the dread MSG memorized. So as the kids were making their way out to the Burb, I was at the computer typing out an alphabetized list of what NOT to buy. I could have scanned the page from the book, but the lists in the book aren’t alphabetized, which makes it pretty slow going when you’re trying to look for something quickly.

So, got that typed, printed it out, and got in the car. The kids asked about the list, so I broke the news to them. We probably weren’t going to be buying all of the usual stuff today. Instead, we’ll be reading labels. Lots and lots of labels. And trying to get stuff that doesn’t have any MSG (or cousins) in it.

(I thought you might like to have a copy, so here’s your What Not to Buy if You Want to Avoid MSG list. Either right click and then save target as, or regular click to open, and then just save it as you would for any other Word document. :) )

At the grocery store they were really good sports about the whole thing. We went to our first normally purchased item. “Let’s look at this one! I bet we won’t be able to get any of that.” one kiddo said. Yep. Sure enough. Baddy cat ingredients were all over that stuff. gah.

On we went through the store, making our choices as carefully as we could.

Since I wasn’t prepared to go completely cold turkey on this venture, I did still get some things that weren’t ideal. Mainly I wanted to get a feel for what we definitely couldn’t get if we wanted to completely avoid glutamates, and what was left. :)

I had to have several pep talks with myself. “Baby steps!” “You don’t have to be 100% perfect 100% of the time!” “Do what you can, when you can!” It’s VERY hard to feel relaxed about eating when you’re concerned that MSG is killing off brain cells in your family members. You know? but I did my best.

Mid-way through the shopping trip my kids were looking in the cart saying, “NO WAY can we possibly live off of this amount of food, Mom! It isn’t possible.” I assured them that we would not go hungry, and that we would just get what we could figure out for now,and if we have to come back to buy more food in a few days or a week, we will. They realized that I’ve never failed to keep ‘em fed, so they were pretty calm about it. :)

By the end of the walk through the store they were actually really, really excited our experiment. They love it when I bake, and I haven’t done a whole lot of that lately. I used to bake with my children probably every single day, and that had definitely fallen off the schedule as other things have gotten busier.

We had some good finds at the store as well. Things we were able to buy as usual included:

whole wheat pastas

Kashi cereals (Heart to Heart, and Autumn Wheat)

unsweetened applesauce

I bought extra baking supplies since I plan to try my hand at making homemade crackers and other bread items. We also bought more produce than usual since we at least do know what to do with that. :)

Since I’m sure I’m not the only one interested in this topic, I’m going to try to keep blogging about it here when I have stuff to share. I plan to share recipes with you that worked well for us, plus anything else that comes up that’s blog-worthy. :)

I am thinking about offering the MSG Myth book here in the store. Let me know if you’re interested.

Filed Under: No MSG, Supermom Says...

Freaking Out About MSG

April 9, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I have had a hard time following my own advice this week.

In one of my books and in my online classes I tell people about The MSG Myth web site.  I have done some reading there in the past, but recently a blog post somewhere else got my interest up about trying to cut MSG and other glutamates out of our diet.

I order the book from the site and received it the other day.  Oh. Boy.  This book is about an inch thick, and starts by explaining to you what’s so bad about MSG (and, boy is it bad!), then tells you a whole bunch of ingredient names that basically equal MSG.  And by the time you get through a quarter of the book you start having that feeling like, “What on earth are we going to be able to eat?!?!”  (And also, of course, the freaking out when you feel an urgent need to change your eating habits, but it feels very, very hard.)

Thankfully, (THANKFULLY!) probably half the book is recipes.  And, they aren’t weird recipes.  Nothing scary looking.  Nothing I can’t pronounce.  Basically, the recipes gave me hope because I could see that the biggest part of avoiding MSG and other glutamates is simple baking and cooking from scratch.  Kind of a no-brainer, I guess.  But it encouraged me that I could find a way to do better in this area.

Of course, it was grocery shopping time again.  I was right in the middle of reading the book and didn’t want to buy anything until I had some sort of plan.  (Perfection Paralysis, of course!)  We managed to squeak by on what we had on hand for a few more days until I couldn’t put off shopping any longer. So, even though I had no plan, off to the store I went.

(come back tomorrow for part two in the MSG saga!  :)   )

Filed Under: No MSG, Supermom Says...

Quick Tips For the Perpetually Late by Cindy Rushton

April 9, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Hey folks!

 

We’re gearing up for the Ultimate Homeschool Expo and I have a freebie for you today, plus there will be another one for you next week, so be sure to come back! 

These resources are FREEBIES from Cindy Rushton, our hostess at the expo.  She has a TON of great articles, audios, and workshops to encourage moms and to inspire those of you that homeschool or love to do extra learning activities with our children.  I thought this article was a great one for a lot of moms.  :)

~Erica 

Does this SPEAK to you?  Nothing is more frustrating than great intentions but failure with the time management, organization, and gentle spirit thing!  So, what can REALLY help? Need a bit of hope?  Practical ideas? Well, beloved, here are a few tips that have made a world of difference for me:

–>    Be sure to slow down and have a quiet time EACH DAY! Take time for God to fill YOUR cup each day. Let Him give you HIS peace, order, and best of all, schedule!  Take time to hear HIS plans for your day.  Throughout the day, listen to His gentle direction.  Be sure that you are willing to let go of the things that God wants to prune away. Without this, all else is only a band-aid!

–>    Invest in a Planner! I am the world’s worst at trying to do it all while trying desperately to remember those incredible details that are doomed to slip my brain! I decided to take a long, honest look at the things that were creating chaos. Most often, the biggest culprit was overcommitment or an underestimate of time involved with commitments. Writing down ALL commitments, along with an honest look at the time commitment involved (even going and coming OR planning the details around that commitment!), has made an indescribable impact on my life! Not to mention, another breeder of chaos in my life was constantly looking for information that needed to be in a dependable place like phone numbers, ordering information, etc. Keeping ONE binder with my information included eliminates the chaos, but it does even more! It gives my brain a rest!

–>    Evaluate to find the BEST that God has designed for YOU to do!  Sure, there are many “little things” that must be done to manage our homes, but if you are really struggling with balance, discipline yourself to write down everything that you are doing for a little while.  Pray over the importance of each and every thing. Time is so very precious. God gives us everything that we need to do all that He has designed for us to do, but He will not anoint those things that will choke out His best for our lives. So, really pray through…think through…weigh out everything. Listen to God for HIS goals for you.  Prune those things that are not in line with His goals for you. Get rid of any time wasters. Prioritize every activity, every day! Combine activities that can be done together to make the most of time. Delegate those things that others can do to help you be a good steward of your time. Then, make the most of your time doing the very best things that God has designed for you to do!

–>    Write IT down! Yep! Give your brain a break!  This may seem to compound your problem, but trust me this will help more than you know! It is NOT another thing to do! Rather, once things are written down, the work is done FOR you! For example, keeping a calendar of events in your planner will help to alleviate conflicts in your schedule. Blocking off plenty of time for each entry will help you to give yourself enough margin left over for LIFE! I may live less than five miles from downtown, but if there is an appointment there, I KNOW to give myself 30 minutes to get there! Also, I cannot tell you how much my lists from years ago are beginning to really help me! I have lists for school lessons, shopping, traveling, producing the magazines, speaking, etc. I may have to add to my generic list, but I cannot tell you how many times my lists have helped me to be sure that NOTHING was left out or forgotten. Plus, now the planning process is simplified.  I just pull out my list, go over the list, add anything that is missing, and get busy! Several of my lists are typed into my computer, ready to print. Talk about EASY planning! Find ways that you can simplify what you are doing—writing it down will probably be one of your first steps too!

–>    Keep your STUFF ready to use! Whether your planner or your purse or even your Bible/journal for church, get things together and in their special spot, ready to go.  I have a tote that includes all of the things that I need for Church. I keep it together, ready to go. Our school books stay in a milk crate (one for each child), ready to use at the table or to grab for our trips with the business. Everything that we need is ready at all times. My planner stays at my chair, ready to grab to leave the house. So on. Decide on what you need for planning, church, homeschooling, or your business. Get everything together. Find its very best spot for it to be easy to use, but not in the way or forgotten.  You will be surprised at how much stress this will alleviate!

–>    Put limits on your day! For years, I battled the different aspects of my day that tend to become monsters! Funny thing, I have never seen my family life ever become one of those monsters. My sweetheart and my children are so much more patient than my nasty kitchen! Memories will always wait for schoolwork to be completed. Laughter will always let the business monster rant and rage! The best (but most difficult) lesson of my life to date was that if I wanted the legacy that God had planned for me, then I had to diligently guard the different aspects of life. I had to consciously purpose to make memories and build relationships with those I love much, much more than a clean house or thriving business or successful homeschool. A whole day can zoom by just on the internet with the business…or working through our lessons…or even re-organizing a closet. Plus, those things wear me down till I am completely zapped! Oh, and then, I am not the nicest person on earth! (ouch—confessions hurt!)  While these things are precious and wonderful in their boundaries, I have to CONSTANTLY place limits to insure that we have a balanced life that makes the most of each day AND builds a legacy.

*******************************

About Cindy Rushton…

Cindy Rushton is the hostess of the Ultimate Homeschool Expo, the very first online homeschool convention. She is recording Preview Chats for the Ultimate Homeschool Convention RIGHT NOW! Join her wonderful guests FREE for the next weeks as they count down to the Ultimate Homeschool Expo (April 28-May 3, 2008–BUT! NEVER ENDING because it is an ONLINE Convention!). Get your ticket NOW and receive her awesome A Quick Start for Notebooking Mini-Set FREE today! Check out all of the details here.

Filed Under: homeschooling, interviews

The Ultimate Homeschool Expo is Coming SOON!

April 8, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I’ve never had the time to go to a homeschool convention, and now with the way gas prices are rising, driving anywhere comes under some scrutiny at my house. Do we really need to go there? Is it worth the price to drive there?

The Ultimate Homeschool Expo is starting soon, and it’s an excellent (actually, superior!) alternative to the typical homeschool convention. For a super low price you can attend a homeschool convention from the comforts of home. You get to listen to a HUGE amount of speakers (and you can even listen more than once)–way more than you would get to see at an in-person convention.

You also get a large amount of freebies and bonus goodies that are worth way, way more than the cost of a ticket to the event.

You can even hear ME as a speaker, which I know you are dying to do! :)

I would say that even for someone who is not homeschooling but is thinking about it, this would be a great opportunity to learn a lot without getting overwhelmed trying to fit everything into one weekend.

You can check the whole thing out here.

Guess what? I’ve got some HOMESCHOOL FREEBIES coming up for you soon too! Come back later this week for some goodies! OK?

Filed Under: homeschooling

Bee Strong Testimonial

April 7, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I am so excited! This gal just ordered her Bee Strong late last week, and already has it and is seeing amazing results!

Although I know that *I* love my products, it always thrilled me when my customers end up loving it too.

You can read her blog post about Bee Strong here:

http://thedavisfamily-mommaof4coolkiddos.blogspot.com/2008/04/wow.html

Filed Under: product reviews

Getting Rid of Ants

April 5, 2008 By Leave a Comment

We have had an ant problem at our house for as long as we’ve lived here.  (8 years)  Every spring they suddenly turn up on the counters, and we fight them until winter.  Last year we got so desperate that we actually used ant killer spray around the outside of the house because the problem just seemed to be getting worse.

I wanted to tell you, though, that what we have actually had the most success with is a cheap and easy homemade ant killer.

You just mix equal parts of sugar and Borax, and then sprinkle wherever the ants go.  (in a dry location)  For a day or two you will see a large increase in the amount of ants coming to eat this stuff up, but very soon thereafter it’ll slow way down to nil.

I like this method so much better than a lot of other options.  It’s easy to make.  I don’t worry about it around the kids.  (although I wouldn’t use it around babies or little ones that aren’t old enough to know to leave it alone)  For now, it makes for great entertainment for my 5-8 year olds who like to watch all the ants come to eat.  :)

Filed Under: Household stuff
Newer Posts »