Tag: homemaking

Keeping Life Moving

Recently someone asked me, “how do you do it all?” I think frequently people think I do it all. I don’t. I have lots of systems in place in my house to actually get things done. And those systems all involve my kids.

Here’s a couple things that help a lot in our house:

Every kid at the age of nine starts to learn to do their own laundry. They wash, dry, fold (or not) and put away. I had to let go of my kids drawers being neat because some don’t care if their clothes are folded or just shoved in. It still makes me cringe when I see them shove but, hey, I didn’t have to do more laundry!

Adding to that, I’d never go without Speed Queen again. We got this set used and I’m telling you, nothing compares. I’ve gone through a lot of washers in my life and I’ll never go back to any other brand. These things are amazing. They wash fast, hard, and efficiently. We always know when our washer is spinning because everything in the kitchen shakes. And no, the washer isn’t in the kitchen!

My kids also have zones on the main floor. I have it divided into six areas and older kids are paired with younger. When I tell them to “do zones” they know their area for the month. They have to tidy everything in the room, regardless of if it was their mess or not. Then no one can say “I didn’t put it there”. And in 10 minutes, my main floor is picked up!

Last summer we purchased a Skylight Calendar. Let me tell you, this thing is amazing! Every kid has their own profile and I can set chores and tasks daily, weekly, every other day, or whatever I need. They earn stars for the completed tasks and can then redeem stars to stay up late, extra video games, or going out for a treat with mom. It has motivated my kids in many ways to get things done! And I never have to remember when which kid should shower or do laundry or take care of animals. They just check each morning and know what to do. I also have our meals on here so they can just look at the menu to know what’s for dinner and who has to help cook. It has taken such a huge burden off my brain!

Lastly, we added a gym in the basement over Christmas. Dad really wanted this for his Christmas gift but it has been a blessing to all of us. The kids run and play and practice Taekwondo down there and Andrew and I can workout everyday. The young adults in our house have all started working out too. It’s a great way to get some energy out when it’s below zero in Minnesota!

There are lots of other ways I try to keep our life moving smoothly, but these are a few big ones!

Mmm, mmm, bread!

One of the things I have become passionate about over the years is feeding my family good food. Not just food that tastes good, but food that is nourishing, wholesome, full of healthy ingredients.

I saw a quote not too long ago that said, “The problem is that we aren’t eating food anymore, we’re eating food-like products.” This is all too true. The boxed, bagged, and shelf stable items in the grocery store aren’t really food. When you can’t pronounce most of the ingredients, it isn’t food. When it says “bio-engineered”, “GMO”, “natural”, it’s far from natural. Now there’s a growing trend to find “more sustainable proteins” meaning growing things in a lab and processing crickets into flour. This isn’t food.

Did you know the majority of illnesses today are a direct result of things we put into our bodies? This doesn’t just include food. It includes chemicals and toxins in shots, water, cleaning products, fragrances, and more. I could probably write a 1,000 page book on the detriments of all these things, and frankly, it would just be a really discouraging book. For now, let’s focus on food.

We all love food. We love to eat. We love to gather around food. We love to try new foods when we travel. And God created us to need food. So it is a good thing.

Now, don’t panic and trash everything in your kitchen. It’s taken us years to get where we are. We’re still not 100% organic in our house. It’s not something you can switch overnight. But every year, I pick one or two things that need to be “cleaned up” in our diet and work on that. I started gardening years ago so we could eat clean vegetables, not sprayed with harsh chemicals. Then for a couple years we focused on knowing how and where our meat was raised. Since moving to the country that’s become even easier because we can raise it right on our property.

Another year it was laundry detergent. Another, it was cleaning products around the house. It’s a slow and gradual change but it’s a purposeful one. I want my family to be as healthy as we can be and I’ve seen vast improvements as we’ve changed our food to real food.

Lately it’s been bread. I used to make my own bread for a while and then it fell by the wayside. I can’t even remember why. But I’ve wanted to start baking my own again and have found a fast, sustainable recipe. It’s so easy and so yummy!

You just mix all the ingredients together in a food safe container with a lid, stick it in the fridge for at least 24 hours (but it can stay there for fourteen days), and then whenever you want a loaf of bread you just pull off a chunk, form a loaf, and bake! The best part – no kneading!

With 12 people in the house plus many coming and going, I don’t have time for lots of steps. I never remember to feed a sour dough starter and I don’t want to knead for 5 to 10 minutes. This is doable! And it tastes amazing.

Another great thing about this recipe is when you mix a new batch in your container, you don’t wash it out. This way you get a sourdough like bread because it slowly ferments in the fridge and the residue from the previous batch helps the next batch ferment. It’s pretty much amazing.

If I can do it, you can do it! (Recipe posted on my new “Recipes for Busy Moms” page! https://desiredhavenfarm.com/busy-mom-recipes/ Here)