Children's Achievement Chart and Board

Achievement Charts (almost) eliminate nagging for regular morning and evening chores. Nagging and micro-managing is very time consuming and creates a hostile environment where both parent and child are unhappy. It was a place we were at much too often!  Thank goodness this works for us!

Establishing a Daily Schedule

We have found, especially with children, establishing a daily schedule is essential for productivity.  This not only gives parents sanity, it also creates stability for kids, so they are secure in knowing when things are happening.

First, we set meal times and bed times.  We then established a morning routine.  Once our meal times, bed times, and morning routine were predictable, we continued by instituting a bed time routine.  After much trial and error, this is what we found worked for us...

Meal Times and Bed Times Set:  Breakfast is between 7:15 A.M. and 7:45 A.M. (except Baby's is more like 5:30 A.M. or 6:00 AM), a very light snack is optional at 10:00 A.M., lunch is 12:00 P.M.- 12:30 P.M., snack at 3:15 P.M., dinner is between 5:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M.  Bedtime for Baby is 7:00 P.M., bedtime for Big Sis is 8:00 P.M., bedtime for parents is a target of 10:00 P.M.

Laundry Money Savers

I have been using this laundry detergent for over two years (http://www.yellowbrickhome.com/2011/03/16/diy-suds/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YellowBrickHome+%28Yellow+Brick+Home%29) but with one very important (I think) additional step...using the blender.  After I grate the Fels Naptha and combine everything, if I don't blend it in my blender, the Fels Naptha separates from the Borax and Arm & Hammer Soda.  I have a regular five cup blender and I can only blend one cup of the mix at a time.  There's no formula for how long...just until it looks uniform.  I still only use one tablespoon of the finished laundry detergent (except on especially dirty laundry I use two).
My son has eczema and this laundry detergent doesn't irritate his sensitive skin.  HUGE savings from buying regular laundry detergent and even HUGER =) savings from having to by Dreft.
Another laundry money saver is using your dryer sheets twice!  Bounce dryer sheets can be used a minimum of 2x before having to use another.  I can use mine a third time on something that doesn't need much static protection, like jeans.  But a third use isn't feasible on almost anything else.  I've tried it on towels, shirts, sheets, and they all need a little more static protection than a third use provides.
Distilled white vinegar can be used in place of fabric softener!  I use 1/3 cup in a full load of laundry.  Vinegar can also be used as an anti-bacterial soak for stinky t-shirts, cloth diapers, or stinky towels.  Just starting to run a load until your washer drum is full of water, add the vinegar and detergent, let it soak for a couple of hours, then run the load like normal. 
If you have sensitive skin (or a sensitive nose or just don't like the toxins in bleach), you can still have bright whites!  Just add 1 cup hydrogen peroxide at the beginning of your wash in your bleach dispenser.  This can be used in combination with vinegar.  It's not as cheap as bleach, but it doesn't ever yellow your whites like bleach can when over-used, and it's so much better for you.
Shaking out your clothing after removing it from the washer, before placing it in the dryer, can help your clothes dry faster, saving money on drying time.  This is especially noticeable with jeans and towels.
That's all I can think of for now for laundry money savers!  I'll add more if I can think of them!

Today is Food Day Continued...

Making cheese...

I must confess that this is not my recipe.  I use Peggy B.'s cheese recipe as related to me by my sister.  And the flavor is the "Classic Ranch Dressing" recipe from "The Diet Rebel's Cookbok," authored by Jillayne Clements and Michelle Stewart.  However, this IS me showing you how I do it!

Today is Food Day!

This morning I'm making butter, cheese, and breakfast.  We get raw cows milk almost every Wednesday, so the milk I haven't done anything with yet (shame on me) is going to be turned into butter and cheese so that it doesn't go to waste, but we're ready for fresh milk.

I start with a gallon of whole raw cows milk.  This can also be done with store bought heavy whipping cream.