Eco Nuts

I do a lot of laundry.  

Before The Hubby and I moved into the house we live in now, we lived in a tiny one-bedroom apartment and the only washer and dryer was located in a central room in the building...2 floors below us.  Doing laundry was one of my least favorite things.  It also cost about $45.00 $4.00 to do one load of laundry, so The Hubby and I would go, give-or-take, about 2 months in between washing.  We were also those people who took our laundry with us whenever we would visit family.  While visiting we would do 8-10 loads of laundry, and take home enough clean clothes to last another 2 months.  Crazy, I know.  I swore when we moved into our own house, I still wouldn't like doing laundry and we would still go months between loads.

Fast forward 2 years and the tides have turned regarding my relationship with laundry.  I now love to do it.  Oh how things have changed.  

It is especially good that I like doing laundry now because we cloth diaper with Little Lady, which involves throwing in a load of dirty diapers every other day.  

While out shopping at MOM's Organic Market the other day (I don't normally shop at MOM's, but it is a great place to get organic fruit and produce, as well as local meats, and a great selection of beauty and skincare products), I came across Eco Nuts in the "home" section.  

After pausing to read the box, I learned that Eco Nuts are "dried berry shells from the Sapindus mukorossi tree in Asia."  You simply place 4-5 Eco Nuts in the wash bag provided and toss in the washer.  They can be reused until they start to disintegrate (about 10 times).   

Normally I use Legacy of Clean Laundry Detergent by Amway which The Hubby and I buy through our Amway Business, but I thought I would give Eco Nuts a try for fun!  We LOVE our Legacy of Clean detergent, but how different would it be to wash our clothes with dried berry shells?! I had to try it.

I bought the trial size which came with 5 nuts and the wash bag, reusable up to 10 loads.  The cost was $4.00.  I tossed it in my cart and off we went.  

I returned home and texted a friend to tell her about my discovery.  I also included the price and she exclaims that I spent A LOT on Eco Nuts.  $4.00?  A lot?  I guess.  I mean, sometimes my Starbucks drink is more than that, and this is for nuts, ECO NUTS, for up to 10 LOADs of laundry.  Hm, I think.  Well, how much is that per load then?...20 minutes seconds later I realize that is more than 40 cents A LOAD.  That is almost as much as the $45.00 $4.00 we were spending at our old apartment.  Hm, I think.  This Eco Nut fetish probably can't become a habit, considering our faithful Legacy of Clean detergent runs about $0.25 cents a load.

All in all, I tried the Eco Nuts and they work great.  The clothes and sheets I have washed smell great and very fresh.  I can't imagine using Eco Nuts on a regular basis, but what a fun product to try! - says the village idiot.  

You Live and Learn

You live and learn...or you don't and you keep making mistakes.  The latter part is more the story of my life.  

I attempted to make bread today. 

I received a bread machine in Christmas 2012 - yes, that is not a typo. I received it two Christmases ago. One of my goals for the year 2013 was to make bread using my bread machine. The year came and went but only store-bought bread was in our kitchen cabinet. I decided this week was the week for the bread machine. Little Lady and I went shopping for all of our ingredients earlier this week.

dry milk, salt, butter, bread flour, sugar, quick active yeast, and my bread machine 

I got everything out last night and it was all set up for me to start today. I even remembered to pull the butter out from the fridge this morning so it would soften in time for me to make the bread this afternoon.   I also had the foresight to plan on having soup for dinner tonight so we would have fresh bread to go with it!  

It was very cold out today so I took Little Lady to the mall to do some mall walking. We returned home in time for me to feed her dinner, and while she was eating, I got all my ingredients prepped and measured.  

I want to preface this by saying I have never used this bread machine before today.  The cord was still encased in plastic and thankfully I pulled all the pieces apart this morning because there was Styrofoam at the bottom of the machine which I had to remove. I couldn't find the manual since I had unpacked this machine from the box a lifetime year ago but I figured a little Google search would do the job.  I found a very helpful WikiHow article that informed me of a couple key things such as what order to combine all the ingredients, as well as helpful tips in regards to making sure the kneading blade is inserted into the baking pan.  The article vaguely mentioned that if you turn the baking ban upside down, the kneading blade will fall out. I tried this, but when my blade didn't fall out, I assumed my bread machine was superior and the manufacturer had figured out how to make the blades stick in there.   

Oh my no.

Fast forward 15 minutes and all of my ingredients are in the baking pan and the baking pan is securely in the bread machine. I turned it on and selected my setting - white bread, light crust color - I hit START and off we go. The display read that I would have toasty bread in two hours and 45 minutes.  

Now The Hubby would want me to insert here that I am not the most patient person when it comes to cooking. If something is cooking in the oven, it is not adequate for me to turn on the oven light and peer through the door.  No, I have to open the door to see what's inside.  I do this with the crock-pot as well. My crock-pot has a completely glass see-through lid. I must open it completely to see what's inside, E V E R Y T I M E. 

Well thankfully my bad habits served me well today. An hour into delicious bread-making goodness, I peeked in on my little bread, opening up the main compartment to see what it looked like. 

It didn't look like bread. 

It looked like exactly what I put in there an hour ago - a combination of dry flour, salt, sugar, dry yeast and wet ingredients.  Hmm I thought, we're more than a third of the way there and it doesn't look like bread yet. 

No worries.

1 hour later - my curiosity gets the best of me and I peek inside again to find the same dry flour, salt, sugar, dry yeast and wet ingredients. I think to myself, maybe it's time to find the instructions. I hunt around in the basement filing cabinet that holds all of our manuals. I give up once and go back upstairs to peek in on my ingredients to see if it's turned into a loaf yet. Nothing. I go back down to try one more time and am successful. I wouldn't exactly call this successful though because upon finding the manual, I also find the kneading blade, no no, not an extra kneading blade, THE kneading blade. 

I am horrified. 

I turn off the machine, unplug it, and pull out the extremely hot baking pan. I dump the still-uncooked, dry ingredients into a bowl. I rinse off the new blade and insert it into its rightful place in the baking pan.  I then proceed to pour all my ingredients back into the pan.

   

I tried turning it back on immediately but my silly breadmaker kept telling me there was an error - probably because it was too hot in there for the start of a new loaf of bread.

Two hours and 45 minutes later - this is what I created: 

Probably not going to win any prizes for best-looking loaf of bread...

it did taste good though!

Along with my bread machine, I received a very helpful resource - The Betty Crocker Bread Machine Cookbook.  It has proved to be helpful in diagnosing the cause of my deflated loaf...note the second to last bullet point..."bread machine was opened during rising and baking cycles."  I'm not saying that is definitely the cause...but I am not ruling it out...

Other than the initial debacle with a missing kneading blade, and my love of seeing what I'm cooking, I enjoy making my own bread!  I can't wait to master white bread and move onto more adventurous tasty treats! - says the village idiot 

A Plug for Storyville

Storyville - what a fun place!  

I love taking Little Lady to experience new things, especially when they are free! 

We went to Port Discovery several weeks ago and it was a blast - a great place to take kids of all ages, but definitely not free.  A friend of mine recently went to Storyville and made the observation that, "It is like a FREE Port Discovery!"  I couldn't agree more.  Though on a slightly smaller scale than Port Discovery, Storyville provides great opportunities for interactive play and tactile experiences.  

On their website, Storyville is described as "An interactive early literacy and learning center for children ages birth to five and their caregivers." 

I captured some pictures below of Little Lady in action at Storyville today! 

Shopping at the General Store 

 

Observing some "underwater" creatures 

Building and Playing 

 

Storyville's town just for kids!

If you haven't gotten the chance already, I would HIGHLY recommend Storyville to anyone with kids ages 0-5.  What a fun place for kids to learn to explore where everything is their size and made just for their enjoyment! - says the village idiot  

2014 Pinterest Challenge - This is for the Birds

This is for the birds - no really - this craft is for the birds.

Little Lady loves birds.  She does not actually say the word bird yet, but whenever we see one through the window, or outside, or in a book, she points excitedly to let me know what she sees.  

We have a bird house that I put out each year.  No bird has yet to discover what lavish living accommodations it would be, but don't worry, every year I hang it from the same branch, on the same tree, just in case.  We also do not have any sort of bird feeders, so I thought this was the perfect week for such a craft.  

Normally Little Lady is asleep during my projects but I decided she could assist on this one.

My supplies: 

Peanut butter, bird seed, twine, toilet paper roll, kitchen knife, hole punch

Step 1: Punch 4 holes into the toilet paper roll

Step 2: Spread peanut butter all over toilet paper roll

Step 3: Coat peanut butter roll with bird seed

Midway through this process, Little Lady got too close to the birdseed and before I knew it, she had grabbed a handful and stuffed it into her face.  After fishing all most of the birdseed out of her mouth and checking the back of the birdseed bag for poison labels, we continued on.  

Step 4: Pull twine through the holes and tie

I ended up only using 2 out of 4 that I punched in the beginning.

Step 5: Hang outside!

Don't mind the dreary-looking weather - we got some bad rain and wind this afternoon and evening and the sky looked rather ominous as I took this picture! 

After I hung up this birdie delicacy, we waited for the flocks to arrive...

  

I even pushed Little Lady closer to the window while she ate dinner so she could gaze at the birdies that were sure to come flying over.

Well...

I'm going to chalk it up to the storm and the wind, but no birdies made their way to our yard this evening.  I brought the birdie delicacy inside but it will return to its' fencepost tomorrow morning just in time for breakfast!  

Let's just hope word hasn't gotten around about the massacre that took place in our yard not too long ago!  - says the village idiot 

2014 Pinterest Challenge - A Science Experiment

This weeks' craft is not so much a craft as it is an experiment.  

My supplies:

Green onions, a pineapple, glass cup, ceramic pot, potting soil

(This experiment was actually pretty cheap - the green onions and pineapple are from the grocery store; the glass from my kitchen cabinet; the ceramic pot from my personal gardening collection; and the potting soil from the Dollar Store!) 

You might wonder what craft I am going to make with green onions and a pineapple...but remember, I said science experiment, not necessarily craft.  I am going to attempt to grow several of my favorite grocery items in my bay window.  

Step 1: Cut tops of green onions

Step 2: "Plant" green onion roots in water in a cup

Step 3: Place in sun and wait to grow!

I have no idea if this will work but I do use green onions a lot when cooking 

so I thought I would give it a try!

Now for the pineapple!

Step 1: Cut top off of pineapple - your guess is as good as mine as to where to cut it

Step 2: Pour desired dirt into ceramic pot

Step 3: "Plant" top of pineapple in dirt - to be honest, I just sort of placed the pineapple on top of the pile of dirt.  I have no idea if that was right.  

Step 4: Place in sun and wait to grow! 

And there you have it - my two experiments, catching some rays.  

Now you might remember what abundance came from my garden last year. We can only hope this crop yields a better return - says the village idiot