FINDING BALANCE BY SIMPLIFYING

Let's face it; we all need to find balance in our lives. Juggling your family, your job, your social activities, and last but not least your own downtime can be a challenge. Same goes for the young adults who are going to college, university, have a part time job, are studying, and have social activities.  (Whew, I am unbalanced  just reading this list).

We are all looking for ways to do the job right and with pride while finding shortcuts to get there, which would allow us to do the other things in our lives. As some of you already know, I moved to the deep country and decided to live simply thus the name of my blog.

In my pursuit of simplicity I decided to start making my own cleaning products and also browsing the web for recipes and household hints.  I did find a recipe for DIY (Do It Yourself) dish soap ( for hand wash, not dishwasher) by Jill of Onegoodthingbyjillee,  I decided to make it and have been using it for 2 weeks now and it works. Be warned there are NO SUDS, but the dishes come out squeaky clean (including wine glasses).

See below for recipe

Now for the dreaded task of cleaning your oven, and dealing with the fumes that it leaves when using it for the first time after cleaning, whether by hand or a self cleaning oven.  This morning I was all ready to  finish making (for the first time, may I had) Irish soda bread, when  I realized I should clean the oven first.  After I finished cleaning it, I was not looking forward to the fumes (you know what I am talking about) when you use your oven for the first time after cleaning it. I did not want the fumes, so I decided to experiment and thought hey if it works for the microwave it should work for the oven. You know the trick: half a lemon in a bowl of water and place it in the microwave for a  minute or so. I placed a glass baking dish with 4 cups of water and a few squirts of lemon juice in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes. No fumes for my Irish bread!!!! and my kitchen smelled lemony. Oh BTW, the bread came out real nice and delicious.  There you have it folks, another trick to making your life more simple and pleasant smelling!!!

Speaking of pleasant smelling, next time you vacuum your carpets  no need to use store bought carpet freshener, all you do is take 1 cup of baking soda, one cup of borax and a few drops of your favorite essential oil ( I like orange, lemon and lavender) I like to switch it up week to week. Mix the dry ingredients then add your essential oil and mix together until there are no more clumps, put it a plastic bottle, sprinkle on the carpet and leave for 15-20 minutes, then pass your vacuum. I will also be making my own laundry detergent, alcohol free mouthwash and bath soaks. That is just for starters. I will be sharing all this with you.

 DIY may seem time consuming, and it can be, depending on the product you are making.  The dish soap took 20 minutes and the carpet freshener took 15 minutes.  I find it to be very therapeutic and you are doing something for yourself, which can bring you great pleasure and you can also share with family and friends.  Now, that is not a bad deal!!!!.

Irish Soda Bread

2 cups white flour

2 cups whole wheat flower

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups buttermilk

Mix all dry ingredients 

Add buttermilk and mix with hand and form a ball

On a floured surface knead bread 9-10 times and form ball

Put in greased casserole

Bake on middle rack, 425 for 35 minutes.

It is ready when you tap bottom and sounds hollow.

Happy eating!!

(To be continued)

PS: Make it a Great Day for Yourself