Archive for the ‘Homemaking’ Category

Wolf and I have a lot of funny conversations… It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord brought us together, across the country, in the midst of a culture that is so different from us!

It all started when he had worn down the heels on his favorite pair of cowboy boots, and also worn out the sole of his Redwing work boots.

I was shocked how hard it was to find a shoe-repair shop. Wasn’t there always one on every corner, one in every mall?

Wolf and I began to speculate on the decline of shoe repair as a symptom of the rise of consumerism and the disposable mentality. Can’t you just hear it now:

After all, if I’ve worn these flats for, say, a year, and they get to the point of needing new heels… They are hopelessly out of style, and I should just throw them away and buy myself a new pair! I deserve it, right?

We laughed when we asked our Facebook friends where to find a Shoe Repair shop, and someone said almost exactly that!

Needless to say, I did find one, and both pairs of boots were restored to their former glory. Both have years of use left in them, and would only have been replaced with identical (and costly!) new ones…

I got to thinking, later, that there are a lot of things around the house that we use longer than many people might. We don’t throw something away simply because it starts to look worn.

Some things can simply continue to be used until they wear out totally. Other things can be repurposed or converted, and then used until they wear out totally.

Here are a few diapers that we are still using, for instance, as they disintigrate…

Shortly after taking this photo, that top layer fell off entirely. As thin an scraggly as it was, I couldn’t think of a use for it, and it did get thrown out. But the diaper is still in use!

A friend made this diaper for me, and I had no idea it had a red layer underneath…

This diaper was a lovely, soft bamboo velour. Amazingly, once all the “fuzz” wears off it is a thin grid, and you can see the underlayers right through it!

This diaper was actually retired shortly after this photo was taken. After a certain number of layers wear away, and the elastic loses it’s spring, it just doesn’t do its job anymore.

The first step! The end of the elastic wore through the casing, and came loose.

This is a “diaper service quality” prefold. Heavy-duty. The top layer is disintigrating…

…and a close-up…

Yeah, that flat-in-patches fabric is terry cloth – the loops just plain wore off!

And I’ve already mentioned where worn-out socks go in our house!

It just doesn’t make sense to discard and replace things that have plenty of life left in them.

Whether we do it because of laziness, carelessness, pride and vanity, or some other reason… It’s neither “green,” nor good stewardship.

I was delighted to receive the latest edition of Franklin Springs Media’s wonderful Homestead Blessings series for review (and a giveaway – keep reading!):

Homestead Blessings: The Art of Quilting

The West Ladies welcome us back with their familiar warmth and charm, this time into a cozy sewing room complete with a lovely old treadle sewing machine.

After a little introduction to the history of quilting, we dive in to a start-to-finish tutorial.

Looking at a lovely Amish quilt may make the entire process seem intmidating, but the West Ladies break it down into simple, managable steps that really made me feel like it was possible that I could make a quilt!

They touch on color selection, fabric, and laying out your quilt, then delve into the mysteries of piecing the blocks together, assembling the quilt, the actual quilting, and binding.

During the course of the video they make a complete (if small) “country” quilt, as well as adorable quilted potholders. They also show and discuss “whole fabric” quilts, including tied quilts.

I was a little disappointed by this DVD, which seemed skimpier than previous installations.

The cover of the box has a lovely quilt image on it, but more complex designs are never more than mentioned in passing. The intro to the DVD shows what looks like a quilted casserole dish cozy, but that is not shown or mentioned in the program.

Although a quilt is, indeed, a large undertaking, it seemed like it either needed a lot more depth, or perhaps needed to include another small project or two (such as the potholders) to fill it out.

Some of the instruction was also frustratingly vague, and the closeups of Jasmine attaching the binding showed only the back of her hand, rather than how to perform the task.

In spite of that, though, it was a great way to inspire confidence in our ability to complete a simple quilting project, and Jewel and I are anxious to get moved, get out our sewing machine, and give it a try! (And I’m putting a treadle machine on my “Wish List”!).

This DVD would be an excellent starting place for someone who had never quilted, and perhaps never even considered it.

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I received this product free from Franklin Springs; I was not compensated in any other way for this review. This review has not been approved or edited by anyone.
I was “disclosing” before it was cool. See my Review Policy for the full scoop.

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WIN IT!

TWO lucky As For My House readers will win their own copy of the Art of Quilting DVD!

Make sure to leave your email address with each comment. (Used only to contact the winner. If your email is entered in the form it will be saved for me but not displayed).

1. Leave a comment here and share whether you’ve ever quilted, or even considered it!

Extra Entries (leave separate comments for each).

Once you have completed #1, you can earn additional entries by doing any or all of the following. For those worth multiple entries, please leave that number of separate comments – each comment is one entry when I draw a number at the end!

2. Become a Facebook Fan of Franklin Springs Family Media.

In additon to these, there are MANY more ways to earn extra entries. You know, all the usual stuff like subscribing to the blog, Tweeting, and so on? Just click over to our Giveaway Policy page for all the details!

This giveaway ends Saturday 6/26 at 11:59pm (Eastern).

The winners will be chosen using random.org and announced on the blog, as well as contacted by email. Winner must respond within 48 hours, or a new winner will be selected. Your goodies will ship directly from the sponsor!

—-

Comments are now closed! Look for the winners announced soon in a separate post!

Here’s my simple-living, green, thrifty tip of the day:

Don’t want to darn socks? Me, either.

I’m not sure my family would wear them, anyway, as used to smooth, fluffy textures as everyone is.

But I don’t just toss them in the trash, ether. Waste of money, waste of fabric, etc., etc., right?

So I pull out my trusty sewing scissors and give them a couple of snips.

I clip once across the sock, going up from the “point” of the heel.

For my anklets, I then just discard the remaining elastic band portion. For athletic socks, this divides them into two.

I’ve also been cutting off the toe-tips. This helps them lay flat, removes the toe seam, and allows them more free water flow in the wash. This is strictly optional.

These little cloths have a wide range of uses:

• Baby diaper wipes
• Family cloth wipes
• Dish cloths (not a drying towel, but instead of a sponge for washing)
• Handkerchief
• Cleaning cloth – windows, etc.
• Dedicated shoe-shine cloth
• Eyeglass or computer screen cleaner (used appropriately)
• I’m sure you can come up with your own unique uses, in your particular situation

You can just toss them in the wash… With your diapers, or your regular white load, depending. A few little cloths don’t add greatly to your washing burden.

If I had access to my sewing machines, I’d serge up the edges, as certain socks are starting to unravel at the cut edges. (Why some and not others remains a mystery).

Naturally, I was as skeptical as you probably are right now, when I first saw the ads for Great Taste, No Pain.

But, like most people who struggle with digestive issues, I’ve gotten a bit desperate, since nothing seems to help, and doctors seem clueless.

The author offers a free “sample” of the program, though, and a Money-Back Guarantee, so I figured I had nothing to lose! But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Allow me to begin at the proper Review Beginning…

With more than 1 out of 3 adults in the US (70 million) taking OTC or prescription pills for digestive disorders and the pain associated with them, as a nation, we have serious health problems.

What most people are frustrated with is that even if they eat how most health professionals consider to be healthy, they STILL experience digestive problems. And so most people resort to drugs, surgery or eating bland foods. Or they just continue to suffer.

That’s why the Great Taste No Pain System was developed.

This simple eating system is designed to dramatically reduce the acid pH measure in a person’s entire body — not just in the stomach. It does so by increasing the ratio of alkaline forming foods eaten and by showing you how to combine foods in a way that radically decreases the amount of acid digestive juices in the stomach and small intestines required to break down foods.

One of the primary components of the Great Taste No Pain System is the science of food combining, which was first introduced into the US in 1911. A basic knowledge of Junior High chemistry is all it takes to see the logic behind this science: Mixing foods that require alkaline digestive enzymes with foods that require acid digestive enzymes slows and can even stop the digestive process. This is incredibly bad for the body.

The Great Taste No Pain system alleviates this problem, speeding food through your body, allowing it to absorb nutrients from foods at a much higher level.

Great Taste No Pain author, Sherry Brescia, was a former Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) sufferer herself. In fact, in 1991, she spent 7 days in the hospital with bacterial colitis.

As a health insurance researcher and Chief Underwriter, she was able to research the benefits of an alkaline- balanced body and over the next 15 years perfected the system she now calls Great Taste No Pain.

What Attracted Me to The Program

• Taste/Variety: Great Taste No Pain cannot actually be called a diet, because it allows you to eat even great volumes of delicious food as long as you combine it according to the guidelines. It truly requires very little willpower, since you don’t have to give anything up. Would you believe that you could eat McDonald’s food and not suffer gassiness and reflux? While meat is not something people with digestive issues usually tolerate well on a daily basis, it turns out the problem isn’t so much the meat as it is what you eat with the meat. And broccoli, lettuce, cucumbers and other veggies that can create havoc suddenly will not!
• Start-up Speed: It’s terrific that you don’t have to read 300+ pages before learning what to do. In the first guide, ‘How To End Stomach Pain Forever, Even If Your MD Says, “No Way,”‘ it provides a brief background on the science and then quickly moves on to the step-by-step ‘how to.’ And even before you get that under your belt, she has a four day menu plan (with options) in the free “Pain Free in One Day” report, so you can start feeling better even before you know how!
• Clarity and Tools: After explaining the theory, GTNP provides a ‘What To Eat With What’ guide that is a massive compilation of how to combine just about anything. There’s even a ‘Pocket Guide For Pain-Free Dining Out’ to help you choose pain-free food at restaraunts, until you get the hang of the system. And with a recipe book full of dishes combined properly, you can shift your way of thinking about meals around without disturbing your routine any more than necessary.

My Results?

I have only had the books for a couple of days, and what I have done so far could best be called “dabbling.”

I have not cooked any of Sherry’s delicious-sounding recipes, due to my limited kitchen facilities, and my family is still dubious about the whole concept.

So I have simply made different choices for my own meals, avoiding the mis-combinations that are a mainstay in the way we tend to do things in America.

This is really just one of two important factors in GTNP (the other being the overall acid/alkaline balance), so truly I have no right to expect to see any huge dramatic results just yet.

But boy, let me tell you what a difference this has made!

I literally cannot remember the last time I ate a meal at a restaurant (and most at home, as well) that did not leave me with pain and problems.

Well, guess what?

My very first GTNP properly combined meal… and every one since? NO PAIN!

No kidding.

What a relief to be able to eat a meal and not have to worry about the digestive consequences! This alone is more than worth the cost of the GTNP system.

I’m excited to get the rest of the program on track, and see if it lives up to the rest of its promises of increased energy, reduced migraines, and so on.

You can be sure I’ll keep you posted! But in the meantime?

I strongly encourage anyone with digestive issues of any kind
to pop over to Great Taste No Pain.

You can sign up for Sherry’s free newsletter, as well as downloading the FREE Quick-Start / Trial program, “Pain Free in One Day.”

And if you do decide to jump in and give Great Taste, No Pain a try, there is a Money Back Guarantee if you’re not 100% satisfied. (Although I certainly won’t be asking for my money back!)

What have you got to lose… Except the pain?

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I have not received any compensation for this review, and it has not been approved or edited by anyone. I liked GTNP so much I became an affiliate, so your purchase through my links will accrue benefit to me – thank you!
I was “disclosing” before it was cool. See my Review Policy for the full scoop.

Well, we’re still grinding away on our cleaning and sorting for the Clear Out the Clutter Challenge.

Yesterday we met a gentleman at the storage who had responded to my craigslist ad. He purchased our window/wall air conditioner unit, giving us a little cash in pocket, and a good sized hunk of space freed!

Woohoo!

Nick was gone last week as we began the project, so yesterday he got started going through the stack of boxes we’d been setting aside labeled “Nick Stuff.”

After sorting through three (or was it four?) boxes, he ended up with only a handful of things to bring back to the RV, a shoebox-sized pile to keep in storage, and a few things we put in storage for the Littles. Other than that, it was a box full for the Garage Sale, and a trash can full!

Yay, Nick!!

The Littles are both miserable with a cold, so I’m behind on the “home” portion of the tasks. Hopefully today will be better…

Okay, I’m going to jump on a bandwagon.

It’s something I typically avoid, but in this case I think it’s a good thing.

Crystal, over at Money Saving Mom (click the graphic above for the link to her) is doing a “Clear Out the Clutter Challenge”.

This fits in perfectly with what we’ve already begun – paring down our STUFF load.

I won’t be able to follow Crystal’s “assignments”, since our crazy RV “home” and the storage unit issues makes a lot of things irrelevant (“coat closet”?)… But I am going to use her challenge as a motivator, and even follow long as I can.

In addition to getting the clutter out of the RV (more of a challenge than it would seem, I assure you), we are faced with the daunting task of cleaning out the storage units.

We are not young folks just starting out in life, and we do have more “storage stuff” than is necessary, having accumulated it over the years. There are Wolf’s comic books and collectibles, lots of books, camping gear, Renaissance Fare and other costumes, far too many Christmas decorations, and so on.

In addition, we currently have in storage a bunch of normal home things: Jewel’s bedroom furniture, our King mattress set, Nick’s desk, a cute western “chuckwagon” dinette set, a few other pieces of furniture, Wolf’s garage full of power tools, all “surplus” clothing, kitchen goods, and even kids toys and books and games (ideally to rotate out with what’s here), the kids’ bicycles, etc.

The result is that we have two storage units, each 10′x17′. And they are packed. No, really. Solidly packed, high up there…

Part of the problem we’ve had in previous attempts to sort things out is the lack of accessibility this creates.

Say I pull out a box from the first row – office supplies. It has 10 envelopes, 1 clip-board, 1 ream of printer paper, 2 highlighters, 3 ball-point pens, and a box of paper clips. I toss out a few crumpled up things, but basically I look at it and think it’s a pretty reasonable quantity of office supplies to have on hand.

What I have no way of knowing, at that moment, is that there are ten other “office supplies” boxes scattered throughout the storage, with a similar smattering of stuff.

We have things that have been packed over the course of several moves, now, and they are not all stored handily together.

So we finally decided to get serious. We got a terrific deal renting a smaller unit right near ours for a month, so now we have some “sorting space”. Now we can pull out enough boxes at once to make some room, and sort things into piles.

Once I get all the “office supplies” boxes together, I’ll be able to assess just how many of those dozens of pens we actually ought to keep.

We spent most of our spare time over Easter vacation last week working on it, and we really made some great headway.

Just from this preliminary sorting, we already have about four boxes of things for a garage sale, plus a few bigger items we’re putting on craigslist, and several large trashcans of trash gone! Whew!

So, onward…

Are you with me? Come on, I’ll even post some embarassing pictures, so you won’t feel bad!

Living in an RV has switched a lot of my problems around.

Like a lot of people, I used to have a cupboard with WAY too many plastic storage containers of all shapes and sizes. I had a monumental investment in expensive Tupperware containers, a whole host of the semi-disposable containers (a la Ziploc and GladLock), and even a smattering of recycled favorites (I’m partial to the larger size Boston Market side dish containers).

So when I needed a container, I would open the cupboard, easily select precisely the size and shape needed, and grab its matching lid.

Er, not.

The “overwhelm” factor is gone here in the RV, with such limited cupboard space. I had to pick and choose carefully what to bring.

Now, naturally, it is easier to find a matching lid (although not as easy as you’d think!). The problems here are more related to things like not having the size you need, since the *one* container that size is invariably in the fridge with leftover peas in it.

Naturally, I was very interested to learn about Easy Lunchboxes. Kelly was a mom of three in a similar bind – but instead of just wishing for a better solution, she designed one!

My clever solution to the lunch-packing chore is the simple two piece EasyLunchbox container : The bottom has three compartments to hold an entree or sandwich and two side dishes. The fitted lid (which comes in 4 colors) covers all three compartments in a snap. No more mismatched plastic container pieces to keep track of (matching up all those bottoms and lids was the thing that drove me nuts!) or wasteful baggies. Fits perfectly inside the roomy EasyLunchbox custom carrying bag. And there is still plenty of room to throw in an extra snack or two, whole fruit, perhaps a thermos of soup, drink and ice block. Flexibility is key, and since so many different things can fit, no matter what menu you choose to include, it packs easily and quickly. It’s amazing how much faster, ‘greener’ and easier lunch box packing is with the EasyLunchbox system.

It’s a great idea, and right in line with the trendy “bento box” style lunch packing that I keep reading about. Plus, it’s microwave and dishwasher safe.

And since anyone reading this blog is likely to ask: Plastic safety?

The answer is a resounding YES!

We are very proud of our products’ safety ratings. We have ensured that all the materials used in our containers and bags are food and child safe and even pass strict FDA requirements! Easylunchbox products contain NO Lead, Vinyl, PVC, Phthalates, or Bisphenol A (BPA).

Resuable. Inexpensive. Convenient. Green. Cute.

One feature that I really enjoyed is that the Easy Lunch Box is easy for kids to handle. Have you ever watched a two year old try to open a tightly sealed Tupperware container? (Heck, sometimes I have trouble!)

Jewel is going through a “playing school” phase right now, so she immediately claimed the Easy Lunchbox bag as hers – good thing it was purple! I packed a lunch for her and R.T., and they went outside and had a picnic.

I packed a tray for each of them, with a sandwich, grapes, and a few marshmallows for a treat. Both trays fit nicely into the bag, and there was still enough room that I could have slipped in an ice pack if it had been needed.

I was pleasantly surprised by the whole experience I had with Easy Lunchboxes. Kelly was friendly and helpful in our email exchanges. The products are totally professionally manufactured and packaged (this isn’t a “homemade” experience). The containers were sturdy, fit together well, and opened easily. All in all, I give EasyLunchboxes highest marks for convenience, frugality, quality, ease of use, and appearance.

My only caveat is that “suitable for adults and children” may be a little broad. My teenage son would certainly not be satisfied with what could be packed in one container. You would need to make sure you did fill up the back with an additional Thermos of soup, piece of fruit, etc.

I think I may need another set…

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Want to get your hands on this great system? Here’s how!

BUY IT!

WIN IT! One lucky As For My House reader will win a complete Easy Lunchboxes set – four trays, plus a bag in the color of your choice! Sorry, but you must have a USA mailing address for this giveaway.

Make sure to leave your email address with each comment. (Used only to contact the winner. If your email is entered in the form it will be saved for me but not displayed).

1. Head on over to Easy Lunch Boxes and leave a comment here telling me your favorite feature, or something you learned.

Extra Entries (leave separate comments for each).

Once you have completed #1, you can earn additional entries by doing any or all of the following. For those worth multiple entris, please leave that number of separate comments – each comment is one entry when I draw a number at the end!

2. Become a Fan of EasyLunchboxes on Facebook.

3. Follow @EasyLunchboxes on Twitter

4. Until 3/28, you can also earn a bonus entry just for entering our Homestead Blessings DVD Giveaway (and leaving a comment here telling me you did)!

In additon to these, there are MANY more ways to earn extra entries. You know, all the usual stuff like subscribing to the blog, Tweeting, and so on? Just click over to our Giveaway Policy page for all the details!

This giveaway ends 4/3/10 at 11:59pm (Eastern).

The winner will be chosen using random.org and announced on the blog, as well as contacted by email. Winner must respond within 48 hours, or a new winner will be selected. Your goodies will ship directly from Easy Lunch Boxes!

.

I received this product free from Easy Lunchboxes; I was not compensated in any other way for this review. This review has not been approved or edited by anyone.
I liked Easy Lunchboxes so much, I became an affiliate! Any sales from links presented here will be counted to my benefit.
I was “disclosing” before it was cool. See my Review Policy for the full scoop.

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Comments are now closed. Look for a separate post announcing our winner!

Remember Homestead Blessings?

I have been following this series with delight – be sure to check out my reviews of the first three DVDs, as well as the “Second Season”. And now…

The West Ladies are back indoors for some winter wonderment!

I’m going to go through all three new DVDs, and make sure you keep reading – you can win your own free copy of the new set!

The Art of Cooking

This program is such a delight! I felt warm, cozy, and HUNGRY watching it!

The West Ladies teach us how to make a few delicious dishes for each meal:

• County Breakfast with Stacked Pancakes, Fried Potatoes (think Home Fries), and Fried Apples and Onions.
• Lunch of Pizza, Tomato Soup, and Salad with Homemade Dressing, and a yummy Smoothie.
• Dinner featuring Pot Roast (with carrots and potatoes), Buttermilk Biscuits, Green Beans (fried with onion), and scratch Gravy (for the roast or the biscuits!), plus a Peach Cobbler for dessert!

The cooking advice was very good, for any cook coming in at a wide range of levels – and of course their recipes and tips would be useful to anyone. I thnk this was probably my favorite of these three new progams.

Although guideline measurements were given, the ladies emphasized the need to adjust to conditions to make sure things work properly (especially for more sensitive foods like biscuits), as well as the cook’s ability to improvise with ingredients, seasonings, etc.

The Art of Dairy Delights

The thing that this DVD accomplished best was to make me long even more strongly for a cow!!

But, naturally, you can do these projcts with milk from the grocery store, as well, and still reap economic, culinary, and nutritional benefits.

Watch as the West Ladies make some yummy homemade ice cream, a variety of butters, yogurt, and even cheese!

Like some of the others in the series, this DVD suffers a little from randomness of information. In some cases the information is extremely deailed, and perhaps even repetitive. But other times facts I’d really like to know about are glossed over – like finding and choosing an ice cream machine. They also demonstrate making mozarella cheese, but have no general discussion of cheese-making, or other varieties.

That said, I did enjoy the DVD, and it is sure to provide lots of great inspiration and ideas.

The Art of Sewing

The West Ladies start us out by making a few simple projects, and along the way teaching some basic sewing techniques:

• Doll pillow, pillowcase, and quilt
• Tiered skirt
• Rag quilt
• Blouse

The first three are done using only basic measurements and/or a self-created pattern. For the blouse they recommend buying a simple pattern, then they walk through how easy it can be to sew it up, and create many variations.

My favorite section is the final one – ideas for creating your own inspired items, and upcycling other fabric goods (wholesale conversions, grabbing a ruffle, and many other great ideas).

I’m so disappointed with one thing, though. Throughout the series, I’ve been enjoying Hannah’s beautiful skirts created from converting blue jeans (pants!) – she even had a very stylish new one on in this DVD… But they never mentioned it! What a lost opportunity to not only satisfy my curiosity, but also to give women another great option for upcycling their bargain finds into modest clothing.

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Whether or not you’ve watched the first six installments of Homestead Blessings, if you’re interested in learning homekeeping arts, you should check these out!

BUY IT!

• Amazon.com price is $19.95, eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping (if your order totals $25 or more).
• The Homestead Blessings site currently has them on sale for $17.95, but shipping is $4.50 each (no multi-item discount) – cheaper if you really only want one DVD, more expensive otherwise.
• Prices at the Franklin Springs site are typically the same as Amazon.com (sans Super Saver Shipping) for single DVDs, but you can get a much better value on one of the various collections of three, six, or all nine programs.

WIN IT! One lucky As For My House reader will win a copy of all three new DVDs!

Make sure to leave your email address with each comment. (Used only to contact the winner. If your email is entered in the form it will be saved for me but not displayed).

1. Leave a comment sharing a tip on Cooking, Dairy, or Sewing. Or just tell me which one you’re most looking forward to winning!

Extra Entries (leave separate comments for each). Once you have completed #1, you can earn additional entries by doing any or all of the following. For those worth multiple entris, please leave that number of separate comments – each comment is one entry when I draw a number at the end!

2. Blog about this giveaway, and link to this post. Please leave the link to your post in the comment. (3 entries)

3. Subscribe to As For My House by reader, and/or email. (1 entry for each, you may do both!)

4. Follow Tiffany on Twitter and Tweet about this contest. Please post the link to your Tweet in the comment. You may Tweet once per day for additional entries! Suggested Tweet:

WIN Homesead Blessing DVDs at As For My House! Ends 3/28 http://tinyurl.com/yazaoyj Please RT! #giveaway

5. Add a link to As For My House to your blogroll/sidebar/etc. Leave your URL, and location of the link, in the comment.

6. Follow As for My House on Facebook Networked Blogs.

7. Give As for My House a 5-Star rating on FaceBook.

8. Suggest As For My House to your FaceBook friends, or post about this give-away on FaceBook (the “Share This” link at the bottom of the page can help). (1 entry for each, you may do both!)

9. Add As For My House to your Technorati Favorites.

10. Post/share/link to the blog (or this post) on your favorite *other* social media outlet – and tell me what it is. Kirtsy? Stumble Upon? What else works for you? You may share on as many as you’d like, and earn an entry for each (leave separate comments).

11. Become a Facebook Fan of Franklin Springs Family Media.

This giveaway ends 3/28/10 at 11:59pm (Eastern).

The winner will be chosen using random.org and announced on the blog, as well as contacted by email. Winner must respond within 48 hours, or a new winner will be selected. Your DVDs will ship directly from Franklin Springs!

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I received these three DVDs free from Franklin Springs; I was not compensated in any other way for this review. This review has not been approved or edited by anyone.
I was “disclosing” before it was cool. See my Review Policy for the full scoop.

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Addendum 3/20:

You can now find all the MANY ways to earn extra entries over on our Giveaway Policy page!

PLUS, earn an additional bonus entry here by entering the Easy Lunchboxes Giveaway as well (and leave a comment here telling me you did!).

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Comments are now closed. Look for a winner in a separate post soon!

A recent contest announced at LighterSaferGreener challenged bloggers to share their top three green living tips.

The more I think about it, the more pleased I am with some of the green changes we’ve successfully adopted into our life.

For instance, as I mentioned in How Green Are We?, using cloth intead of paper throughout the house (instead of paper towels, tp, diapes, etc.) is a huge step forward for greening.

We also now faithfully making our own Better Bread. In addition to helping our insides, this helps the outside (planet) by reducing or eliminating the processing, packaging, and transportation footprint associated with store-bought bread.

My third “top tip” is one that hasn’t gotten any press on the blog yet – the ways we save gas.

We drive less, and we drive better.

• Wolf and Nick both use public transportation for their respective commutes.
• We plan and consolodate errand trips for maximum efficiency.
• By driving at reasonable speeds, avoiding fast stops and starts, etc., we stretch our gas mileage.
• The vehicle is properly maintained, including oil changes and tire pressure.

I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that the changes have crept up on us slowly.

Everyone knows that a sudden, drastic shift is “easily made, easily broken” – think New Year’s Resolutions.

But something that you grow into slowly, out of thoughtful consideration and conviction, is forever. So it is with our deepening faith, our commitment to modest and feminine dress… and our green living habits.

In addition to my sundry ramblings about our journey to home-baked bread (below), I wanted to specifically talk about the cost.

I’ve heard people wondering if, these days, you can really make bread at home any cheaper than you can buy it in the store.

I think the answer is, “Yes, and No.”

The bottom-line calculations for this would involve a lot of time, measurement, and calculation. When I looked at all the issues, I decided it wasn’t worth it to even “go there.”

A cursory online search found people’s calculations of the cost of a loaf of homemade bread, including energy, between $0.50 and $1.50 (which included beer). In an absolute sense, I suspect that my bread would come out about on par with the cheapest loaf of bread I can buy at the store (about $0.89 around here for a loaf of Publix grocery store brand white bread). If you have a bakery outlet near you, or similar opportunity, you can probably get it cheaper.

But I have absolute power over my bread.

My bread has no High Fructose Corn Syrup and no preservatives. I use baking powder that has no aluminum, and unbleached four. I use real butter, not artificial and chemical stuff. I add nonfat dry milk for extra protein, and I can switch it up by adding some whole wheat four, oatmeal, herbs, or whatever strikers my fancy.

It makes the whole house smell wonderful, tastes wonderful, and makes my family feel nurtured and happy.

…And I’m positive that my bread costs far less than the price tag of the kind of bread I prefer to buy in the store – approaching $4 per loaf!

I started out using the basic boule recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking.

It tasted nice, and would be fine as bread with soup… but there’s just no way you’re going to be using that for sandwiches.

Luckily, I was pointed towards the terrific blog Everyday Food Storage (actually part of a set of three!), and her recipe for EZ Bread (which I double).

We’ve been eating nothing but homemade bread for over a month now. Each batch we’ve tweaked the recipe just a little, as we learn more about what works, and what we like.

• I use 1 cup of rolled oats in place of 1 cup of four. I’m working on getting some wheat germ in there, too. The kind of “bitter” taste of whole wheat four is just not something the family can seem to get over, so I’m trying to find other ways to get some more nutrition in there.
• Nick and I are learning about watching the dough in the mixer “kneading,” and knowing when you need to add a bit moe flour or water. Recipe or no recipe, there are enough other factors (temperature, humidity, etc.) that this part is more art than science.
• To get the bread nicely done inside and out, we had to lower the cooking temperature and increase the time.
• On a suggestion from an online forum, I butter the top of the loaves when they come out.  Yummy!

We did decide it would be worth it to invest in some better bread pans.  The kind most people have at home (and what I had) are actually smaller than a “real” bread loaf – great for banana bread, but not so much for regular bread-making.

I chose a pair of 1 1/2 lb. Chicago Metallic Commercial Bread Pans, and have been simply delighted with the big, beautiful, evenly-cooked loaves they’ve turned out.

We’ve made our bread into monkey bread, dinner rolls, and pizza crust. My next project is to work on hamburger buns (there’s a great recipe for that on the original Homestead Blessings DVDs I reviewed on Life on the Road!).

It’s surprisingly easy, takes very little hands-on time (especially if your KitchenAid is doing the kneading), and is one of the most gratifying homemaking tasks in my day.

The Everyday Food Storage blog had another great tip for saving even more time: When you bake a batch, make up several more batches of dry ingredients in zip-top bags. Then making the next few batches is super-quick!

You can also make multiple batches on a big “baking day,” and freeze them – slice first for ease of straight-from-the-freezer use.

If you’re not making bread for your family, you’re missing out on a blessing!