Imagine your sitting in your backyard or on the porch, it’s warm outside, the flowers and trees are blooming. The kids are playing and laughing in the yard. Maybe your working on a craft or reading a book. Suddenly, your throat feels dry. Nothing sounds better than an ice cold beverage. Here is the dilemma: do you reach for an expensive soda, energy drink, or juice? Do you drink water, or could you make your own satisfying beverages for much less money than soda, energy drinks, etc? The answer is Yes.. you can! For years now I have been making homemade lemonade, sun tea, or drinking other inexpensive drinks.
Homemade Lemonade: 1 cup real lemon juice, 1 cup sugar or splenda, 2 quarts cold water. Stir to mix and enjoy! I can buy a 1 quart bottle of 100% lemon juice for between $1.00 and $1.50. A large bag of sugar sells for around $1.49. This is by far cheaper than store bought juice, contains real lemon juice(which is good for you) and delicious.
Sun Tea: I use a re-used, clean milk jug. I fill this with water and put 5 to 7 Lipton orange-pekoe tea bags in through the top, leaving the paper tags to hang outside the jug. Let sit in the sun for approximately 4 hours and remove tea bags. Refridgerate and enjoy. You can sweeten with sugar or artificial sweetener, add lemon if you wish or any other add ins. I drink this all summer long and it is very nutritious and delicious. You can use your favorite tea and adjust the amount of tea bags used for weaker or stronger tea.
Kool Aid: I have been buying generic kool aid for years, usually on sale at 10 for $1.00. You can use real sugar or artificial sweetener, I have used both and recommend using slightly less artificial sweetener as it is stronger. You can’t beat this as it is extremely inexpensive. Obviously if you use sugar it is not “healthy”, however you can use this drink to make homemade popcicles, add gelatin and make homemade jello. It is far better than soda or other sugary drinks. A wide variety of flavors are available to please any tastebuds.
Juice from concentrate or ready made : In my area a large bottle (around 25 - 32 oz.) sells for between $3.00 and $4.00. You can buy a container of frozen juice concentrate for less than $2.00 and it makes about 2 quarts. Do I need to say more?
I hope these ideas help make your summer most enjoyable and refreshing!
Thanks to all!
The Domestic Goddess
For those of us who get the “spring fever” and feel the need to scrub our entire house with a toothbrush to make it sparkle, you know how manufacturing companies have created “needs”, things we supposedly absolutely have to have or our dwellings are not clean. Obviously, this is a myth. It does not take $100 worth of products and “stuff” to make our houses sparkle. I do a major cleaning twice a year, towards the end of spring and the beginning of winter. Never have I spent more than $15.00 on cleaning products to clean my home. New items like the Swiffer products are not necessary, convenient and time saving, yes; but not necessary. The chemicals in the cleaning solution on the swiffer and like items can actually be harmful, while the pads take up landfill space. These are all the items and cleaners that you need to spring clean your home.
Broom, dustpan, mop, bucket, rubbing alcohol, baking soda, all purpose cleaner or a bucket of mild soap and water, rags, and yes: a toothbrush.
Use the bucket of soap and water and the toothbrush to get into any cracks or small areas of furniture to clean away winters grime and dust. Rinse tootbrush with clean water and wipe any soap out of crevices. Use a rag to dry.
Clean all windows, glass, and mirrors with rubbing alcohol and a rag. They will really sparkle. If you worry about lint on these surfaces, use newspaper(black and white print only).
Use a bucket of mild soap and water and a rag or scrub brush to clean walls, base boards, floors, etc. For grungy looking wood furniture you can scrub the wood with mild soap OR my personal favorite, Murphy’s wood oil soap. Rinse with a clean, wet rag then use an oil like olive oil or linseed oil to make the wood shine again!
Use a paste of baking soda and water for “soft scrub”. Use on sinks, tub, and tile.
Don’t buy expensive smelly powders for your carpet. Just sprinkle your carpets with baking soda, let sit for 15 to 30 minutes and vacuum as usual.
Wash all washable rugs, curtains and table cloths in the washing machine. Curtains can actually be hung back up wet and let them air dry. The smell from the soap will make your rooms smell wonderful.
Sweep and mop all washable floors. Apply any floor wax treatments if you choose to do so.
Open your windows and let the entire house air out. Bacteria, dust, possibly mold, and other allergens build up in enclosed houses over the winter. Let them all out!
Following these steps will make your entire home smell and look wonderful! Don’t forget to declutter also! Most often we let mail, magazines, newspapers, old clothing build up over the winter. Recycle and donate whenever possible!
Thanks to all!
The Domestic Goddess
- check out the mark downs section of your grocery store. These are often filled with great deals that will save you serious dough on your food budget. Some items are over stocks or are close to expiring. Make sure if food items are about to expire they can be frozen or used immediately.
- Look at the store’s flyer for their current deals and sales. Try to incorporate the good deals into your shopping list and menu. Make sure to buy only items that you will use. It isn’t a good deal if it does not get used
- If you clip coupons make sure they are for goods you will purchase anyway. Do not be afraid to try a different product if you find a really good coupon or sale price. Most of the time change is a good thing.
- Try store brands. Most store brands taste just as good as the name brand and in some cases, better. If you are unsure if you will like a product, just buy one and try it. If you don’t like you do not have to buy it again.
- Avoid processed, packaged and otherwise low nutrition foods. While items like Hamburger Helper can be bought relatively cheaply, they have very little nutritional value, are over packaged, over processed and basically a drain on your budget. Do an internet search for do it yourself meals and make them from scratch at home. You will save big on your food budget this way. You can control the ingredients used, if you use natural, organic or “regular” ingredients. This also allows you to taylor the meal to your families likes and dislikes. Throwing some pasta, a binder like cream of mushroom soup, meat and veggies in a pot and cooking it takes about 15 minutes with 5 to 10 minutes of preparation time depending on how organized your kitchen is. This also allows you to get creative and try new ingedients, use up leftovers and make extra for another day. Homemade food almost always, I have found in my household, has leftovers.
- Stick to the perimeter of the grocery store. This is usually where they have the least processed and packaged foods located. The more “whole” a food is, the better that food is for you and your family. A potato in its natural form has much more nutrition than a box of mashed potato flakes. Just check out the label on the box for proof.
- Prepare as much of the food you and your family eats from scratch as possible. Not everyone has time to bake batches of homemade bread or whip up a 5 course meal. Do what you can. Make a big pot of homemade soup and freeze the leftovers for another busy day. Casseroles are an easy way to use up leftovers and use ingedients you have on hand. I have weekends off and spend a chunk of time baking and cooking meals from scratch and freezing them to eat during the week when I am to busy with school, work, and running my son around to have alot of time to spend in the kitchen. When that chunk of time is depends on what else I have going on that weekend. I enjoy cooking so it doesn’t take me long and I have fun getting creative. Even if you only make and store a few things, that is better than hitting the drive through or buying convenience foods at the store.
