New Year's Resolutions

I'm going to be completely honest. Never once have I kept a New Year's resolution.....never. Because of this, I gave up setting them a long time ago, but I decided to take another stab at it this year....in fact, I actually had my 2010 goals written in November and got a head start on a few of these! I'd like to take the time to share them with you today:

-lose 50 lbs
-cook healthier, smarter and more often
-pay off 50% of outstanding debt not including student loans and car payment
-establish an emergency fund of at least $1000.00
-commit to cleaning out my car once per week
-get new living room and dining room set
-find a new church and attend on a weekly basis
-add to my blog 3 times per week
-Read the entire Bible on a one year plan
-save at least $25.00 every paycheck in addition to the emergency fund
-establish an organizational system in my home
-add no unnecessary expenses until all debts are paid off

I will probably touch mostly on the cooking healthier, smarter, and more often resolution in this blog. I plan on doing this by using local, fresh, in-season veggies and fruits and whole grains and cooking the main dishes in a healthier manner. I already took a few steps toward this goal in 2009. First, I grind my own wheat, so all of the baked goods I make are full of whole grain, vitamins, and minerals. I also started replacing sugar with honey or Splenda whenever I can. I also plan to pick up a new vegetable every week and figure out how to use it in a tasty and interesting manner, which I will gladly share with you ! What steps are you taking to make 2010 your healthiest year yet?

get into the local food movement!

I've always loved to cook. I spent my earliest years at my great-grandmother's side watching her cook for her family, church bake sales, and holidays. The skills that I learned from watching and helping her will always be one of my greatest treasures. A couple of years ago, my interest in cooking led me to become more interested in where my food was coming from, how to make it healthier, making things from scratch, and even making some of the base ingredients if I could like grinding my own wheat or making homemade mayo. I've always looked at cooking as a giant science experiment and a way for me to show my creativity and ingenuity. I started researching how accessible wheat would be, how hard it would be to grind it at home and if it could even be done. I came across a website to the Oklahoma Food Co-op. I couldn't believe the abundance of made in Oklahoma products there. With the click of a mouse I had access to that wheat I was looking for and then some. I found local meat that I could buy individually or in bulk, vegetables, plants, seeds for herbs and gardens, bread, and even fruit tree wood to use in my smoker. I signed up quickly and was completely impressed with the quality products I received. I also loved reading the stories of some of the producers that were members. Many had been farming for several generations and explained in detail the care they take in raising their products. Buying from the co-op was something I really could feel good about, and it was the catalyst for my continuing interest in the local food movement that is becoming more and more popular as our economy spirals out of control and environmental issues come to the forefront. The local food movement is something that has become near and dear to my heart. Buying products locally helps us to reduce our carbon footprints and supports your local economy. Below are some websites that are great for finding local farms, producers and products in Utah, Oklahoma and across the nation. Check them out and give some of the products a try if you can. You won't be disappointed!



http://www.oklahomafood.coop/

http://www.localharvest.org/

http://utahsown.utah.gov/

Video: How to Make Your Own Flu Vaccine In Your Blender

Video: How to Make Your Own Flu Vaccine In Your Blender

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Free sample of Pampers

Go here and fill out a quick form and get a free sample of Pampers extra protection diapers sizes 4 or 5. Thanks Utah Deal Diva!

Make your laundry detergent yourself and save money!

Are you looking for ways to save some extra cash? Try this recipe for homemade laundry detergent from the Duggar Family website! Not only is this a great way to save some cash, but the soap is environmentally friendly without the phosphates and chemicals in store bought soap. It is also free of perfumes and dyes so it's great for those with sensitive skin. One batch will make 10 gallons of soap or about 180 loads for a top loading machine or a whopping 640 loads for a front loading washer. You will need the following ingredients:

1 Fels-Naptha bar (castile or other natural laundry soap bars work well too)
1 Cup of Washing Soda (sometimes tricky to find but you can order it on the Internet)
1/2 Cup of Borax


Using a hand grater or a food processor grate the bar of soap and add to a large pot. You should designate this pot for soap making and make sure you don't use it to cook food with :). Add in the Washing Soda and Borax.

Pour 4 cups of hot water into your pot and turn your stove on Med High. Stir mixture well and let the soap completely melt. While your soap is melting fill half of a 5 gallon bucket full of more hot water. When your done it should look something like this:

Pour the melted soap mixture into the 5 gallon bucket a stir mixture thoroughly. Add additional hot water to get mixture all the way to the top of the bucket.

Put the lid on your bucket and let the mixture sit overnight. The mixture will gel and get much thicker. Take an empty laundry detergent bottle or similar container. (I bought one of those plastic water holders with a pour spout from Walmart). Fill the container half way full with soap mixture and fill the rest of the way with hot water. Shake vigorously, and shake mixture a little bit before every use. If you want a fragrance, try adding 10 to 15 drops of an essential oil for every two gallons. (We've tried Lemon, Peppermint and Lavender). Use about 1/4 cup for every load in a front washing machine and about 5/8 cup for a top loader. The entire batch of soap complete with essential oil costs between $2 to $3 dollars. Compare that to your store bought soap!

Scentsy Giveaway

Utah Deal Diva is having a Scentsy give away. Click on the previous link, look for her post and leave her a comment about your favorite thing about fall and you are automatically entered into the drawing. You can also become a follower of her blog, or blog about her giveaway like I did for extra entries. Thanks Utah Deal Diva!

Meatloaf Madness

I'm about to share with you my favorite meatloaf recipe of all time. I've been using it for about 7 years now, and I've had people who don't even like meatloaf tell me how good it is. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and have the following ingredients on hand:

1 lb of sausage
1 lb of ground hamburger
1 package of french onion soup mix
1 package of crackers crushed
2 eggs

I switch some of my ingredients around depending on what I have on hand. Start out by combining your sausage and hamburger in a large bowl. Begin working in your onion soup and crushed crackers. If you don't have any crackers on hand try using dried breadcrumbs or last week I used some plain oatmeal because I didn't have crackers or dried bread crumbs. Add in your eggs last and mix the meat mixture with your hands until thoroughly combined.

Add the mixture to your baking dish as shown above and bake at 425 degrees for about 40 to 45 minutes. Enjoy!