10 DIY Cleaning Solutions

These days there is probably more than a million different cleaning products you can buy that are expensive and full of toxic chemicals that you don't want anywhere near your family. Here is a few to try out.

10 DIY Cleaning Solutions

Miracle Stain Remover

1. Mix 2/3c. Dawn, 2/3 c. ammonia, 6 Tbsp. baking soda and 2 c. warm water into a spray bottle

2. Spray onto stains and let sit for a few minutes. Wash as usual and watch stains vanish.

Dirty Oven Rack cleaner

1. Soak oven racks in bathtub with hot water, 8 dryer sheets and 1/2 cup of Dawn overnight. Watch build up fall right off.

2. Use dryer sheets to remove any remaining build up

Super Shower Cleaner

1. Mix equal parts white vinegar and Dawn in a spray bottle

2. Spray all over show and let shit for 2 hours. Wipe clean, goodbye scum and rust

The better Oxy-Cleaner

1. Mix 1/2 c. hydrogen peroxide, 1/2 c super washing soda and 1 c. hot water

Soak laundry in this mixture overnight to erase impossible stains.

Clean Glass Showers

1. Slice a lemon in have and dip into a bowl of kosher salt, start scrubbing. The citrus and salt combination combat pesky shower scum

Wrinkle Release Spray

1. Mix equal parts fabric softener, white vinegar and water in a spray bottle.

2. Spray on fabric and pull slightly, watch wrinkles straighten right out. You can also put fabric in the dryer after spraying for the same result.

Ink Stains

1. Apply a squirt of Purell to the stain, let sit for 10 minutes

2. Wash as usual

Carpet Stain Remover

1. Mix equal parts ammonia and hot water

2. Pour mixture over stain and cover with a clean white towel

3. Iron the towel on top of the stain. Watch the stain instantly lift from the rug

Magic dishwasher cleaner

1. Place a cup of white vinegar on the top rack of your empty dishwasher, run a hot cycle (note: make sure to check the trap for any blockages first)

2. When the cycle is complete sprinkle baking soda on the bottom of the dishwasher, run another short cycle, your dishwasher will smell fresh and clean

Remove armpit stains

1. Mix on part Dawn with two parts hydrogen peroxide

2. Pour mixture over stain and let sit for one hour. You may add baking soda and scrub lightly for extra pesky stains. Wash as usual. Stains will be gone like magic.

Slow Cooker Apple Crisp

Yes I know I am currently going crazy for my slow cooker, I just never realized all the wonderful things you can make with it!!

So a few weekends ago was Thanksgiving here in Canada, and I made this recipe as dessert, so that I would have time to focus more on the main course. I hosted a 14 person dinner this year and it was my first one! It was a success! Everyone was wanting another piece of this apple crisp! Made with my own apples right from my yard. I decided to make it in the slow cooker because right after I invited everyone over to Thanksgiving my oven died. So hear I was with no oven and 14 people wanting one of the largest meals of the year. Luckily my family lives within 10 minutes of me and I just used one of their ovens for the turkey. But everything else I made on the stove top or in the slow cooker. I'm posting a slow cooker stuffing right after this!

Slow Cooker Apple Crisp

I had previously harvested these, peeled them, cut them and froze them so they were all ready to go, this is a great step if you are picking them off of your trees and not buying them from the store. Then you can use them whenever you want to.

Cook Time: 3 1/2 Hours

Prep Time: approx 15mins

Ingredients

For the Apple Mixture

• 8 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and cut into thick slices
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp white sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the Crisp Topping

• 1 cup of oats
• 3/4 cup white or whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Directions

• Place the slices apples in the slow cooker. Add brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir. 
• Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Stir until well combined. Using your fingertips, work the butter into the oat mixture until the mixture starts to clump together. Note: a potato masher works great to get the mixture started, but you will need to finish it off with your hands
• Stir the apple mixture one more time and the spread apples out into an even layer. Sprinkle on the crisp topping
• Cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 3 1/2 hours, until apples are soft. Turn off heat and let stand for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired. 

Beef Roast Slow Cooker Recipe, with Veg

Lately I've been finding myself short on time with all that there is to do around the house, the yard, etc to get everything buttoned up for winter and make sure we have enough food and fuel for winter. So my boyfriend and I have been using the slow cooker a lot these days. So I'm going to share with you this wonderful recipe that had all my coworkers drooling with jealousy when I brought in leftovers.

Beef Roast Slow Cooker Recipe with Vegetables

Cook Time: 5-6 hours

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 lb Beef Roast 

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce 

1 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

2 tsp Paprika

2 tsp Italian Seasoning

1 Carton Beef Broth or Oxo cubs with water (enough to cover everything)

Salt and pepper to taste 

4 Potatoes cubed

2 Carrots sliced

1/2 onion diced or slivered

1 Celery diced

(Note: I use two crock pots for this recipe, you many not be able to fit it all in yours)

Rub the roast down with the 1/2 of the dry seasonings a let it sit while you are cutting your vegetables (note: you can let it marinade as long as you want to). Add the roast and a good amount of vegetables to the slow cooker. Fill with broth and liquid seasonings, enough to cover everything. In your second crock pot (if you are just using one large one ignore this step), put the rest of the vegetables and the dry seasonings, mix around. Next fill with broth and the liquid seasonings. 

Cook on high for 2 hours and then low for 4-6 (depending on the size of your roast and how you like your roast cooked). Note: you may have to turn down the one that is just vegetables before the roast as they cook faster.

To make gravy: add just enough corn starch or flour to the liquid from the crock pot to thicken it, it already has an excellent flavour. If you like a darker gravy, add a bit of coffee grinds to it.

Back in the game

Man it sure has been a while since I posted, but I'm hoping to get back into it now after a few rocky years. Well I finally did it, we bought an acreage with a trailer on it, which we are in the middle of renovating at the moment. We have a total of 5 acres and our nearest neighbour is a mile away, which is pretty great, can't see or hear them. We are surrounded by bush and field, and slews, so it's always beautiful out here. We are right in the middle of getting ready for winter, as we are about 2 miles off of the highway, the gravel doesn't get plowed much and the possibility of getting stuck in for a few days is real, especially since the road leading to our house dead ends at our house! So we're cutting wood, making sure the vehicles are up to date on maintenance, getting the house buttoned up, getting the snowmobiles ready and pretty soon we will be putting the plow on the truck (got our first dusting of snow here this morning!). I supposed I will make a list below of a few things I've learned on my 6 month journey as a real homesteader.

1. Make a list: There are tons of things that have to get done, and tons of things you want to get done, and they are all flying around in your head, right it down and start crossing things off!
2. Slow cookers are your friend: With all the stuff you have to get done, make supper, lunch and breakfast easier just by using the slow cooker, there are thousands of recipes out there for these things, and you can freeze leftovers. I bet you can probably make jam in there, haven't tried it yet though, and I've heard it said that you can make bread in there, which I am going to try this weekend. 
3. Don't go overboard on fruit trees and a giant garden the second you have room for them: The place that we bought had so many fruit trees, I was so excited to make jams, jellys, pie fillings etc. I had apples, crab apples, plums, choke cherrys, black currents, raspberrys and two other fruits that I haven't identified yet (one matured too fast, I almost didn't see them, next time I went out they were all gone, and the other seemed like it never ripened, but it was a really dry year here) Needless to say I was consistently checking them throughout the summer, all ready to go with my canning set, but when the time came, they all came at once, and man do those things ever take a long time to harvest!!! I ended up only making a black current raspberry jam and apple crisp because I just didn't have the time! But I am also working full time, and I have no kids to help, I did manage to get my boyfriend out there a few times, but he was more interested in the final product haha! Not to mention since it was such a dry year here my garden did nothing, only weeds grew (but lets be honest, the weeds were over 6ft high there before I decided that would be a perfect spot for the garden since the grass was already broken, and I never sprayed it with anything so they ALL CAME BACK!! terrible.
   
4. Buying used items isn't always best: Apparently around where I live you have to be careful buying used items now because so many people are selling junk. We have bought 3 used stoves in 6 months and they all died! So now I've suspicious of all good deals, which sucks because I love a good deal. So don't just take peoples word for it, test it out, and if they make a huge deal about it, then there is probably something wrong with it.
5. There is no such thing as a small reno: at least not at our house, I swear every time we take something down/apart to fix something, ten more problems show up. Example 1: Part of the drywall was crumbling on one wall, so we decided to cut 4 feet up and replace that section, we got the drywall off and the insulation was full of mouse droppings, and was moldy (fun!!!), took that all out to replace it, and found a hole in the exterior of the house, rotten 2x4's that were structural and so an afternoon project turned into at least a 3 day project. Example 2: There was a really nice set up for a wood stove at the house when we moved in (one of the selling features for us) but someone had put down laminate on top, well we decided we will just take that off, replace the osb with plywood and put some bricks on top. But no, they had previously cut holes in the outside of the house (in addition, under the trailer so we couldn't see them) with a cup saw (perfect circles), and then proceeded to cut holes in the wood structure of the thing so literally tons of mice got in there, there was an entire nest, it was so nasty

Well that's all my wisdom for now, hopefully will get another post up on Monday after the weekend here, hoping to get lots done, I'm enlisting my siblings help!

Survivalism – What to have on hand

You should always be prepared, there are many of natural disasters, and man-made disasters that could happen. If you are not prepared, you might not survive; below I have listed the main things you should always have on hand in case of emergencies.

Food

o   Make sure to have enough food on hand for at least 72 hours, for everyone in your house hold. I recommend having more than that, just in case. Probably a week if you have the space.

o   Canned food is key, if you have a cellar though you might be able to have fresh vegetables.  

o   Don’t forget about meat

         Water

                  o   You can never have too much water, as it can be used for drinking, washing, cooking, etc. always have lots on hand

         Clothing

o   If you live in a place with severe weather, make sure to keep appropriate clothing for that weather. For example, I live in a place with extreme winter weather, I always have jackets, mittens, hats etc. on hand. *Layers are the best, be sure you have things you can layer with, you don’t want to be sweating unnecessarily.

Winter Tent

     Shelter

o   If you don’t have a basement or cellar, it could be helpful to have a fold-able shelter. This would be helpful in an extreme winter disaster. Proper winter shelters (I.e. winter tent) help keep warm in, and body heat from your family will be kept in the shelter and won’t escape as easily as it would in a large room. And will help if you are forced to leave your home for whatever reason

     

     

     Blankets

o   Again in extreme winter conditions, have a multitude of blankets could mean life or death. You need to keep warm in these situations

     Cooking supplies

o   Be sure to have another way to cook food, camp stoves work well, but BE VERY CAREFUL using these inside. Use OUTSIDE ONLY IF POSSIBLE!

o   Pots, pans, utensils, plates, cutlery etc. are all useful. But don’t be going for non-stick in these situations, cast iron is best, especially if you’re going to be cooking off camp stoves or fires.

      Fuel

o   Keep extra fuel for your camp stove and vehicle, OUTSIDE ONLY, if possible. You will have to rotate these things fairly often, every couple of months or so, I figure. You don’t want to be using old fuel in your vehicle, especially if you can’t take it to a garage to get it fixed, or have the skills to fix it yourself.

     Vehicle

o   Be sure to have some of all of the above (if you have a car, remember not to store fuel in your vehicle, fumes can be deadly) in your vehicle. You might not be at home when these things happen, and you might not be able to go back.

         Additional Small Items

o   Fire Extinguisher: in a disaster, you might not always have the ability to call 911, and even if you can they are usually very busy. Fire extinguishers are an important asset

o   Clean water tablets: these purify water, these come in handy if you run out of water, or if it is unreasonable to carry the amount of water that you need

o   Weapons (i.e. Knife, gun, or bow): I am adding this as a survival thing. Things get crazy sometimes in disasters; you don’t want someone stealing your food/water supply or shelter. PLEASE ONLY USE THESE AS NEEDED. They are also an extremely helpful tool if you know how to hunt

o   Fire wood: it’s always good to have a little extra fire wood lying around in your shed

Well I have to get back to work. If anyone has anything they want me to write about or clarify let me know. Let’s all make the day count!

How to Heat a Room Using Just Tea Lights and Flowerpots

Found this great idea on another blog today and just had to share with you. I have included a link to the post at the bottom of this, as there are 4 other DIY ideas for heating your house relatively cheap.

What you will need:
(Please note this will work best for a small room only, add a few more for a larger room)
2 - Ceramic Flower Pots (one smaller and one larger)
4 - Tea light candles
1 - Container for the tea lights

Put the four of the tea lights into the container (the person on the video used a loaf pan), light the candles, and put the smaller flower pot on top of the loaf pan. Cover the hole in the pot with some aluminum foil (just enough to block the hole). The smaller pot will get hot! Then put the larger pot on top of the smaller pot. The heat will move through the "bottom" of the pot (assuming that it is slightly larger then the width of your bread pan), as well as the "top" of the pot, creating warmth in your small room. You may need to add additional candles throughout the day.

Please note that you should never leave this "heater" unattended!

Natural Living Ideas: How to Heat a Room with Tea Lights and Flowerpots

Sewing, knitting and crocheting

Now, I'm not sure about you but I learned to sew when I was a kid. Sewing your own clothing is a great way to save money. The fabric stores usually have fairly trendy pattern, but the do cost money. If you go onto Pinterest there are tons of websites that have free patterns, most of them are fairly easy. Of course you can also search for patterns bases on your ability.

It's been awhile since I've made any clothing, but I am currently working on a quilt. If you go to your local Walmart, they should have a sewing section, there are all kinds of stuff in there. They have little packs of pre-cut fabric, which I am currently using to make my quilt, because they seemed easier to use then usual quilt patterns where you have to cut a bunch of things into tiny shapes and sew them into an complicated pattern. I will let you know how this works out, so far so good. I usually sew by hand because I can do this whilst watching TV, my sewing machine is noisy and sometimes I get too frustrated with it and give up. And I find hand sewing to be relaxing. Again there are many patterns of Pinterest that have free quilt patterns.

As far as knitting and crocheting, I haven't really gotten the hang of these yet, I know there are some good tutorials on the internet, but I haven't found any ones that really help. (So if anyone has a good tutorial, let me know in the comments and I will edit this). I do love getting knitted mittens for Christmas though, which I usually get from my Grandma or aunts. I really wish this was one talent I had.