Birthday Week

It was the best of days......... it was the worst of days......

Who made that saying up? 

Well, it fit for this post.

In the past my sister has bought a Costco cake and came and dinged my bell and came into my house all cheerful and we have eaten cake on my kids' birthdays. 

Tuesday it was time to repay the favor.

Her son, Tyler was celebrating his birthday but not with her. He is married and lives on his own and she had already shared dinner and partied with him on his day off from work. So there we were to make her day special.

We also ate a piece of cake for my son, Colby who will almost be done with school on his birthday and be back with us after Thanksgiving. He is counting it down.

We ate cake for the boy's birthdays who were not with us on their days! We had fun and it tasted so good.

Homemade Laundry Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap

5 gallon bucket w/lid

1 bar Fels Naptha Soap

3 gallons boiling water

1 cup Borax

1 cup Washing Soda (in a yellow box by laundry detergent)

1/2 cup Oxi Clean

2 gallons hot tap water

Shred whole bar of soap

Put in bucket - Add boiling water

Stir until dissolved and add borax, soda and oxi clean

Stir until dissolved

Add 2 gallons hot tap water, stir again

Cover and store overnight

Stir next day, top will be like Jello

Put in usable container

Use 1/4 cup in laundry

This is all you need to make your own homemade laundry soap.  My sister, Faith was talking all about how everyone in her neighborhood is making it.  She wanted to try it.  I was all for it.  I buy a box of laundry soap every 2 weeks....I figure this will save me hundreds of dollars!!!!!!!!!

The recipe says to shred the Fels Naptha.  Fels Naptha is hard and I guessed I would probably shred my finger before I was done, so I pulled out my food processor.  It worked like a charm.  After all it's just soap so it will clean up!

You do have to push down pretty hard and cut it in smaller pieces first

It foamed out of the top of the bucket.  Mops right up, after all it's soap.

The ingredients were $11.05. This will last to make several batches, you only would have to buy a new bar of Fels Naptha. This also would be a good storage option.  You could always have a batch on hand to make if you needed too.  I was a little worried.  But I have to say after using it for a month now it's great.  My towels are cleaner and my whites are good.  It even passed the football smelly uniform test and hot chocolate down the front of brand new Under Armor white tee test.

You can either save it in an old laundry liquid dispenser or if you have a great friend like I do who buys her soap at Costco you can beg, borrow or steal one of these handy dispensers.  You do have to shake it from time to time.  Using the little cup that comes with it on the middle line, this container has lasted me one whole month.  I refilled it and I still have 1/2 a bucket in my garage!  My sister and I also purchased a gadget to open the 5 gallon bucket......saves the fingers and the nails.

Soup Thursday

For Kelsi's Birthday we got a Costco ham. The soup I made with the leftover ham was the best. I did not have to boil the bone and pull off that stringy, fatty meat. I just chopped up the leftovers and added them later in the recipe. I like my way of making this soup. The recipe comes from Betty Crockers Cookbook. I made scones to go with the soup. The recipe for them is on this blog. They are the best!

Split Pea Soup
8 cups water
1 pound dried split peas
1 medium onion, chopped about 1/2 cup
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
2 medium carrots, diced about 1 cup
2 medium stalks of celery, diced about 1 cup
Ham cut into squares

*Heat water and peas to boiling. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 1 hour.
*Stir onion, salt and pepper into peas. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and cover and simmer for 1 hour.
*Stir ham, carrots, celery into soup. Heat to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender about 45 minutes.

For this next soup, don't tell anyone it has a macaroni and cheese packet in it for flavoring. Let them taste this soup first. They will not believe you. I have made this soup for potlucks at school/work and everyone asks for the recipe. It is so simple and good.

It's a thin soup. I have already changed the recipe to have more flour in it. I have decided that it is just a thinner soup and that is OK. Have saltines handy. Don't worry about cutting broccoli small just cut it like you would for steaming. It all stirs into pieces. Enjoy this one...it's fast.

Broccoli and Cheese Soup from What's for Dinner?
5 cups water
2 t. chicken bouillon
2 cups carrots, chopped
2 cups broccoli, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
3 T. butter
4 1/2 T. flour
1 can evaporated milk
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 cheese packet from macaroni and cheese box
1 cup cheddar cheese

*Bring water to a boil. Add bouillon and stir until dissolved. Add vegetables.
*Cover and cook on med heat for 20 minutes or until tender.
*Melt butter in med saucepan on med-high heat. Stir in flour until smooth.
*Slowly add evaporated milk, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth and thick. Add spices.
*Mix in cheese packet and cheese. Remove from heat and stir until cheese is melted.
*Combine with vegetables and water. Stir until smooth.

I experimented with this salad. I must say it tasted like a 8 dollar salad from a nice restaurant. I loved heaping it on a plate and serving it with the soup. Here is what I did. I cut up lettuce and spinach. I put in large bowl. I added bacon bits, feta cheese and cut up apple. (I used the slapper.) Then I tossed with Creamy Poppyseed Dressing.

I may be serving this at Thanksgiving!

If you want to look at my sisters post she has recipes for her soups.  Think about the possibalities for you!  Lot's of recipes for you!  Here blog is http://aftereightquilter.blogspot.com/.

Soup Thursday

My twin sister, Faith and I started a Soup Thursday tradition.  We are making a soup every Thursday and posting the recipe.
(Disclaimer.......these are not gourmet soups with fancy ingredients, they are soups that I can make starting at 4:00, dog tired after work.......)

The first week I made a Corn Chowder,  I have made a corn chowder once before in my married life and I spent the night in the bathroom, too rich.  This corn chowder was a better fit for me.

Corn Chowder
4-5 potatoes, peeled finely diced
1 small onion, finely diced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tea pepper
* Cover with water and boil until tender.
*In a skillet make a rue with
2 cups canned milk
1/2 cube butter
Thicken with 4 TBLS cornstarch and 1/2 cup flour
*Stir into the cooked potatoes
*Add
2 cans creamed corn
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded

The next week I made Beef and Barley Soup.  This one was so good.  I used fresh mushrooms and sent them through the slapper and once they were in the soup, so good.  ( I have 2 mushroom haters who ate the soup)

Beef and Barley Soup
1 1/2 lbs sirloin steak
1 T. oil
5 cups water
1 T. beef bouillon
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 lb mushrooms, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. pepper
1/2 onion, chopped
1 t. salt
1/2 cup pearl barley

Cut the meat into small pieces.  Heat oil in large pot.
Add meat and cook on med high heat until browned. 
Stir in water and beef bouillon.  Bring to boil.  Lower heat and cover.
Simmer for 2 hours.  Add remaining ingredients and stir. 
Simmer for 30 minutes.

Before I post my next post I have to write about this handy kitchen gadget that I just love. 
I probably use it every time I cook.
If you don't feel like cooking and cutting up food into small pieces, this tool is for you.
I call it the Slapper.  It is really called the Vidalia Chop Wizard.
This is what it looks like:

My next post is going to be about Soup Thursday. I could not make Soup Thursday without this gadget.

(Hint, don't use it to cut cooked chicken or celery)

The Cutest Class

Both Kim and I teach classes on Sunday but he is the best teacher and he has the cutest class.  The lesson was on being honest and the 2,000 stripling warriors.  He made them headbands and swords.  Even the girls loved the swords.  He gives them little suckers, dum dums, as a reward for good behavior.  Missing today was a cute boy and twin girls. Can you imagine 3 more with swords?  We gave them to them at the very end.

The girl in the blue dress said the cutest thing, I took her to the bathroom and even though there is a stool in there by the sinks she could not reach the soap dispenser so I would put it on my hand and then wipe it on hers.  This Sunday she was so excited because she could reach it!

The girl in the pink sweater is my favorite.  She is so quiet but she is so smart.  When we were in the bathroom she had a ink stamp on her hand and I said where did you do to get a hand stamp?  She said something I could not understand so I asked again and I still could not understand and a older girl who was at the paper towel holder said, "She said Lagoon."  Then I asked her about Lagoon and her face just lit up and she talked and talked about it.

The boy in the striped green shirt has a hard time coming but I think he is so cute and he tries so hard.  He has some behavioral issues so he is the best he can be right now.  We have got him to stay in the class room and not be under the table and stay on his chair for a lot of the time.  He can make you work up a sweat.  He has a picture that he likes and when I give it to him and he looks at it and stays still.  His mom and dad are so appreciative of Kim and I that they made up these huge cinnamon rolls last Sunday and brought them to us while they were still hot.  Oh man, were they good!

I discovered the joy of the CriCut

I made this cool sign for our garage for Kelsi's birthday using the CriCut.

To watch it work is an amazing thing.

I made this huge sign to hang from the second story railing at school advertising a fund raiser that the girls basketball team was holding at McDonald's.

They donated 20% of their profits that night and the girls made over $600.00!!

One forgotten football post

Look at those mountains, blue skies and white clouds. 

 Our boys look good in their blue uniforms and gold helmets.

I have held plenty an umbrella at a sporting event coming from Washington......

but what really surprises me is how many umbrella's I see at sporting events here in Utah to block the sun!

Logan's last football game

It's Logan's last football game. We have been blessed with good weather the whole season.  Today's game at Provo High school.  We enjoyed the scenery on the way down there. 

.  Nice fall day! 

When we got there it was hot, we sat looking into the sun and it was 89 degrees

The season went fast.

He played well, he only got a little hurt.  He had 2 friends get real hurt, BT and Kaden.

They won about as many as they lost

Kelsi came to every game with us.

 We were blessed by Faith and Kyle's kindness. They came to all but one game!   

Always think of cute blog posts.....

I always think of cute blog posts........when I am at work!
By the time I get home, all is forgotten.

I turned the corner at work.  I like it now!
It is not so busy that I can't keep up.
I know what to expect each hour...
I can give good customer service......to all, even the snotty students who can't say please.
I am on a routine with my house cleaning, finally, bathrooms on Wednesday, vacuuming on Thursday.  Then the Saturday I can mop.  I always do laundry, if I am home the machine is running.

The principal called me into his office and asked that we try and reduce our paper usage 20%.  He sent out an email and the teachers have been trying.  One way is they are making class sets of the questions and the kids have to use their own notebook paper to answer the questions.  I remember doing it this way when I was in school.  This is an example, every day I use 2 boxes of paper (20 reams)and probably 5 reams of color paper.  Because color paper is more by the box by about 7-10 dollars, if I can reduce color copy paper by one ream a day, I can save 220.00 a month.  Right now we spend 18,000 a year on paper.  So right there it is 10% saving.

This is the funny part and how will I tell this to the principal.......
Every month the copy technicians come to read all our copiers total copies made.  They do this at all the places they service the machines.  I said to him I want you to graph the highest number of copies and the amount of times you are at the schools on a chart and I bet I make the most copies and you are here the least.
He came in today and said I won for the most copies made by all their machines.  I even beat Lone Peak High School.
(but how can I tell the principal that, it proves what he said about us making too many and waste)

My son, Colby who we thought was done with college had to go back to Central Wa University in Ellensburg for one more semester.  This will be his 6th year!  And no he is not a doctor!  He left his dog with us and that was weird at first but better now.  He will be done right after Thanksgiving.  And I thought I could finally have all my kids here for that holiday.  He is back taking freshman classes making up for the ones he had to drop when he had mono and was so sick and had to come home to get better.