Keepin' it Real Tour of Chestnut Grove Academy Home

Do you sometimes feel like a failure when it comes to homemaking?  Do you ever beat yourself up for not keeping your house spic and span?  Do you thumb through magazines and ever wonder why your house can't look like that, or when you visit your favorite bloggers you wonder how they can keep a tidy home but you can't?

Well, let's get REAL!!  You are NOT a failure; your house does NOT have to be spic and span 24/7; those magazine photos are NOT real life; and I can guarantee you that the neat and tidy pictures you see of bloggers' homes are hardly ever like that on a regular basis.

So I thought it would be encouraging and fun to do a little home tour of my own (along with several other bloggers - make sure you check out the other home tours at the end of this post).  You know, kind of like those lovely house tours that DIY/Home bloggers do that show pictures of their immaculate, magazine-worthy homes?  Like that, but a little different.  For this home tour we won't
pretty up our houses or make them picture perfect, but rather show them as they are in their usual state - lived in!

We hope that through these home tours that you are encouraged to know that nobody has it all together, and that's okay; that you have fun peeking into the life of another family and seeing how other moms do things; and also to dispel the myth that bloggers have a flawless life.

BUT WAIT!  We want to see your homes too!!!  Even if you aren't a blogger, you can join us and share pictures of your home on Instagram.  For the next six days we will have a little Instagram challenge; each day will have a different topic for you to post a picture on.  Check out the graphic below to see what is assigned on each day.  Be sure to use the hashtag #KeepinItRealHomeTour on all your Instagram post so we can find each other easily. 

So here it is folks.  Here is the real deal!  People ask me how I get it all done, well truth is I DON’T!  Some things have to give.  I use to be majorly up tight and OCD about it, but I’ve lax’d A LOT (maybe too much).

Thank goodness for my hubby, he does help out a lot.  The kids have chores as well, which is great. 
My biggest problem:  PILES 

I have way to many piles of stuff around!

R – Kitchen, L- Living Room

My bedroom – I NEED a bigger closet!

Boys room – 3 in one room, well it’s always a mess, and the one room that gives me anxiety when I go in.  The trundle was at least put away this morning!  Their bathroom isn’t bad, they cleaned it yesterday.

Baby girl’s room.

Basement

R – laundry room – those are all CLEAN clothes, I need to get off here and go fold!  L – School room….yeah this is what it looks like MOST of the time.  I can’t even show you what it’s like behind that ABC chart!  Ugh!

I took these pictures mid day, just after finishing our schooling, but before lunch.  I do try and pick up some in the evening….o well….it’s messy, but it’s not DIRTY, so I’m okay with it. 
So what’s your problem area?   Our house is definitely lived in!  If I could find a PILES solution and a dryer that folded, I’d be set! 

An InLinkz Link-up

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

 This was an experiment that turned out so well I wanted to share!  I tend to mix and match recipe ingredients all the time for meals, but this was the first I did while baking.  These are SOOO Good!

Last year I made some peppermint choc chip cookies using Candy Cane Jello Pudding, so when I saw Pumpkin Spice on the shelf, I got an IDEA to try them in pumpkin cookies (I have made pumpkin cookies before, but I didn't feel they were pumpkin enough, maybe this would do the trick....)

Wet Ingredients

Mix all the Wet ingredients together in a large bowl

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 c brown sugar

1/3 c granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 t rum flavored extract (or you could use vanilla, almond, etc...  you choose)

1 15oz can of pumpkin (not pie filling)

Dry Ingredients

Mix dry ingredients together in a smaller bowl

1 box of Pumpkin Spice Jello Pudding

2 1/4 c flour

1 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

2 t pumpkin pie spice

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, then add 2c chocolate chips

Put in teaspoon size balls onto a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20min

ENJOY!!

Now I need to go buy more can pumpkin and pudding!!

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Yummy Treats with Christmas Leftovers (Candy Canes and Egg Nog)

So if you hit up the after Christmas sales, you may find plenty of candy canes, candy cane pudding and egg nog at clearance prices or atleast I did!  (or you can always just pin this for next years Christmas Treats!)  I thought it a good time to try out a few recipes and experiment with a few as well. 
I snagged a container of egg nog, 2 boxes of candy cane pudding, and 2 boxes of Hershey's chocolate mint candy canes (but really any minty candy canes would work)– and here are my results (with a few more ingredients added, of course).

This is the first I have ever seen candy cane pudding, the first I heard of it was in a pinterest pin I saw for candy cane chocolate chip cookies, which is what I based my recipe off of for the cookies I made.  The original recipe is pinned here…mine does not vary a whole lot.

The very first step was to unwrap all those candy canes (so tedious) and break them into tiny pieces, I used the dry canister for my vitamix mixer.

Chocolate Chip Candy Cane Cookies

Recipe1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 pkg instant candy cane pudding mix
2 1/4cups flour
1t baking soda
2 eggs
1t vanilla
1/4t salt
about 1/2c crushed candy canes (I used the Hershey choc mint ones)
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:  Preheat oven to 375.  Combine flour, salt and baking soda in small bowl and set aside.  In a larger bowl, cream butter and sugars, beat in pudding mix until blended.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Gradually add in the flour mixture and mix to combine.  Stir in candy pieces and chocolate chips.
Place teaspoon sized balls onto cookie sheet (I use a baking stone, or use a regular sheet with parchment to avoid candy from sticking, I also use the Pampered Chef Small Scoop to make the perfect size cookie!)  Bake for 8-10mins.  Let cookies cool for 5mins on sheet and then move to cooling rack. 

Chocolate Mint Candy Cane Cake(the original recipe I based this cake off of can be found HERE)

Recipe1 pkg Chocolate Cake Mix (I used Betty Crocker Devils Food)
1 pkg Candy Cane instant pudding
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c water
1/2 c chocolate chips
about 1 c chopped candy canes (again I used the Hershey chocolate mint canes), divided.
1 container white vanilla icing
1/4 – 1/2 t peppermint extract (according to your own taste)

Preheat oven to 350, lightly grease 2 round cake pans.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix, dry pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, oil and water; beat with electric mixer on low speed just until moistened, scraping side of bowl.  Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.
Stir in chocolate chips and 2 T crushed candy cane.
Spoon into prepared pans.
Bake for ~40min or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10mins on wire rack, then remove from pan to cool completely (still on wire rack).
In the mean time mix in 1/4t – 1/2t of peppermint extract into white frosting
After cake is cooled, ice bottom layer and place about 1/4 c of crushed candy canes to top.  Top with 2nd layer, ice completely and coat in the remaining candy cane pieces.

Egg Nog Pound Cake (Quick Bread) with Egg Nog Glaze Icing

This recipe can be found HERE, I found it slightly dry and in the future may add a pack of vanilla pudding, but otherwise VERY YUMMY!

DIY Dishwasher Detergent

So I have tried my hand and laundry detergent, both powder and liquid…so why not dishwasher detergent.  I already had the Washing Soda and Borax on hand from making the laundry detergent, and I had bought the Epsom Salt for a science project, so all I needed was the Lemi-Shine.

I researched several recipes online and came up with my own concoction.  I tried it out and it worked great! 

Tips:  stir it up several times after making, the citric acid solidifies the mixture.  You can add more Lemi-shine for harder water, one recipe I saw had 2c of lemi-shine, but that would require a larger than 12oz bottle.  Divide the 1T between the prewash and wash bins (about a 30/70 divide).  Put the vinegar in the rinse compartment.

(vinegar as a rinse aid)  I placed it in this honey bear, b/c I have a huge costco size container of it, and also use vinegar in my cloth diaper wash as a softener. 

I love that I was also able to recycle a variety of containers when making these things!

The cost of this detergent is about $4 and will last a VERY LONG time at just 1T per load!

For my inspiration for this recipe, and many other DIY cleaning products check out my Pinterest board!

Homemade Liquid Landry Detergent

So as previously posted, I gave the powdered laundry detergent a try, and I did really like it, but the liquid goes so much further…so when I ran out of the powdered I made, I decided to try my hand at the liquid version.
I am using the Duggar’s recipe, as posted on their blog
4  Cups - hot tap water
1  Fels-Naptha soap bar (I used 1.5 Ivory bars to equal the oz of a Fels-Naptha bar)
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax
Directions:
-Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)
I purchased all my materials at Long’s Drugstore, with the exception of the 5 gal bucket which I got at Wal-Mart for ~$3. 

I added about 30 drops of Lavender essential oil.  After it set and cooled over night here is what it looked like:

I then spooned it through a funnel into a Costco size Vinegar container (really any type of container would work…old laundry det bottle, rinsed out juice bottle, etc…).  I filled it half way with the detergent and then the rest of the way with water.  I just wrote on the bottle with black marker, nothing fancy or even pretty really.  I keep it by the washer with a 1/4c measuring cup, (I also use a 1/4c of white vinegar as a softener for my cloth diapers).

Anyhow, so far so good……for the same cost as the powdered detergent, you get 600 more loads worth of detergent.  A gal on a mom’s board I’m part of said she made the batch in January and is just now running out…so about 10mos worth of detergent for pennies really!
The cost break down for here in Hawaii:
Box of Borax $5
Box of Washing Sods ~$3
3 bars of Ivory soap $1.50
The Borax and Washing Soda is enough to make SEVERAL BATCHES (I used the same box for two powdered batches, and this liquid batch and still have plenty left to try my hand at some dishwasher soap!)  The 3 bars of ivory are enough for 2 batches!  So it adds up to pennies really!

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Pumpkin Brownies

I’m sure if your on pinterest you have seen the pumpkin muffins (made with one can of pumpkin and one box of cake mix) pinned all over the place!  I’ve been making that exact recipe with spice cake mix for over a year now, I got the recipe from a friend in a mommy’s group back in MD…and they are so good! 

Well it got me thinking, what about pumpkin brownies??  So today, I experimented, and I was quite pleased with the results!   Maybe it’s been done before, but I googled pumpkin brownies, and though many recipes came up, none that I found were as simple as what I had in mind, so I gave it a try!

Ingredients:
One 15oz can of pumpkin
One box of brownies (or one bag from a Costco pack)
cream cheese icing (if desired)

Mix the brownie mix with the can of pumpkin, and back according to brownie directions (325degrees for 45-50min in a greased 8x8 pan)

Cool and ice with frosting if desired

(I went to get my camera and came back to find C decorating with chocolate syrup)

We served the with some vanilla ice cream, choc syrup and whip cream…..but they were really good plain (with our without icing).

The texture is quite different from regular brownies, they are very moist, and pretty rich.  But very yummy!

To make the pumpkin muffins all you need is one box of cake mix (I prefer Spice Cake, but I have read that Carrot Cake is good too), One can of pumpkin, Mix together and put in lined cupcake tin (or unlined, your preference, just make sure you spray the pan!), Bake according to the cupcake directions!  These are soo good too!  (These can be served with or without cream cheese icing as well!)  Here is the link to the pin for this recipe.



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Making Every Penny Count!

For years now our church leaders have been heeding us to stay out of debt. As our nation’s economy continues to worsen, it becomes even more apparent that we need to maintain a healthy financial status. Certain costs of living are unavoidable; therefore we need to make cuts where we can. I’ve brain stormed some ideas, many of which I have already been doing, some I have recently begun and others which are on my ‘to do’ list.  It’s up to you to decide what can work for you. 
A penny saved is a penny earned, every cut you make is more money used towards eliminating debt, building up food storage or putting aside for a ‘rainy day’.

Pay tithing - when we put the Lord first he overwhelming blesses us.  Read  Tithing:  A Test of Faith with Eternal Blessings from October 2002 Conference.  I have a great testimony of tithing, if you don’t have one, you can…but you have to pay tithing first.
Cancel your cable (or cut back on the cost of your cable package) – There are many other cheaper alternatives these days such as Hulu, Hulu Plus, Netflix, Redbox and Blockbuster Express
*Beware of bundle deals and limited time offers! It’s not saving money if you are paying more for something you don’t need or can get cheaper elsewhere!
Get a prepaid cell phone – we were paying $80 a month for cell phones (nothing fancy, this was pre smart phones), and had more roll over minutes than we could use. We switched to prepaid cell phones; there are several companies to choose from. The initial cost for 2 phones and 1,000 minutes each was $260. This saved us $700+ a year. I’ll admit I sometimes have smart phone envy, but I know I don’t NEED it.
Ditch the landline – If you have a cell phone, you might not have a land line anyway, but if you switch to a prepaid cell phone, you may want to get an inexpensive house phone. The cheapest switch being Magic Jack, the first year it costs $50 and $20 each additional year, saving you over $200/yr. Other alternatives are Skype and Vonage. (Notice with the prepaid cell phone and magic jack combo you are still saving largely above an ordinary cell phone bill).  Keep in mind these alternative phones will not work if there is no electricity or internet, if you feel the need to keep the landline strip it down to the most basic package. 
Meal plan – Plan your menu, make a grocery list and stick to it! Get even more savings by planning based on sales ads and using coupons. Buy in bulk and freeze when prices are good!

Transport your own trash – Where we live now we are lucky to have trash and recycle pick up for free (well it’s in the city taxes, which our landlord pays). But, at our previous home we had to pay for trash pick up. It was ~$26/month. For ~$120/yr we were able to buy a dump pass and take our own trash, which saved us ~$192/yr.

Go Green!

Make your own cleaners/detergents – what you spend on cleaners may not seem like much, but it adds up over time. By making your own laundry detergent you can save ~$65/yr, and ~$40/yr by making other household cleaners. Here are a few sites that are helpful (there are many out there):Nontoxic Cleaning Solutions, Fabric Softener Sheets, Homemade Oxyclean, Homemade Laundry Soap Powder or Liquid, Homemade Dishwasher Soap
Go Solar – Many solar companies are now offering solar panels on lease, you only pay for the power you use, as opposed to financing the solar panels yourself. If you are a home owner, this is definitely something to look into. If we owned our home, we would definitely do it! Here is an article on solar panel leasing
Recycle – This goes along with the trash savings mentioned earlier, by recycling (which at the time we had to take our own recyclables), and cloth diapering we cut back our trash output so much! This is enabled us to only take trash to the dump about once a month. In some areas you can even receive money for recycling!
Grow your own garden (or shop local) – If you can’t have a garden of your own, check out local Crop Shares and/or farmer’s markets, if you cut out the middle man, you save money! It’s also typically a better product and healthier! I recently found a little roadside stand by a local farm here in Hawaii, it saves me a lot on produce, and things are NOT cheap here.
Make your own baby food – I’ll admit I had friends that made their own baby food when my oldest was just a baby, and I thought they were crazy…what a pain! But with my second I had given into the cloth diapering, and figured I’d give the baby food a try too. It’s really so simple and you can save on average ~$0.25 an ounce. Remember every penny counts, it adds up over time. Here is a great site for making baby food.
Cloth diaper – For about $300-$500 you can buy all the diapers you need for one child, which will still last you for a 2^nd and a 3^rd and even a 4^th child. It is estimated that you could save $2000+ a year, and more with each subsequent child by using cloth diapers.
Go reusable – There are many reusable products on the market that can save you tons!

• Use cloth instead of paper towels(I bought the industrial pack of white washcloths at Costco)
  
• Feminine hygiene products like Luna Pads or The Diva Cup can save you ~$150-200/yr
  
• Water Bottles instead of bottled water
  
• Reusable shopping bags instead of plastic or paper (not always a money saver, but some grocery stores will credit a small amount to your bill for each reusable bag you use)
  
• We already mentioned diapers, but you can also use cloth wipes!

Organize/attend tot or clothing swaps- My ward does clothing and keiki (tot) swaps, it’s a great way to get rid of old (but still good) things you no longer need and get new things for you or your kids without spending a penny!
Some additional reading:  Living Happily Within Our Means from the January 2008 Ensign.


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Homemade Laundry Detergent

So I have been planning on making my own detergent for some time, I kept saying “once I run out”, well that time came, and I was so worried it was going to be such a chore (I had already purchased the stuff, it was just the process that worried me).  Let me say, it was super easy!   I debated whether or not to blog about it, since I have seen it on several blogs just this week, but with this new “pin do it’ blog hop I found, I was proud that I did something I pinned…I just had to share!   Here is the pin on my board   It originated at this blog, but I recognized the recipe to be that of The Duggar’s, that my friends have raved about for some time now.    So here is what you need: I purchased all 3 at Long’s Drug Store (here in Hawaii), you can also use Ivory, Sunlight, Kirk's Hardwater Castile or Zote bars instead of Fels-Naptha.   I broke the Fels-Naptha bar into a few chunks (actually I cut it with a knife) and put it into my vita-mix dry container (you could also use a food processor or grate it by hand with a grater).
After it was all broken up, I mixed it in a bowl with the other ingredients.     I then put it in a snap ware container, with a Tablespoon, and labeled it! (yes, I’m a label geek)   I washed my first load of laundry with it, using only 1 scoop, and it came out smelling so nice and it looked just as clean as with my store bought detergents!    Now I can check that off my “things to do/try” list!   I may try Ivory next time since you can buy that in bulk at Costco!  I did not make note of the prices, but I KNOW it’s cheaper (especially here in Hawaii).  I’ll have to come back and update with prices later!  



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