Skip to main content

Jars Full of Goodness

I like canning jars......and all other glass jars. I'm kinda a jar pack rat. But as I've leaned towards "green", moving away from plastic wrap and baggies, I appreciate my jar stash. 


Whether the jars are found in the cellar, filled with fall's harvest........
.....a jar of lemon and honey to sooth the throat or an old kombucha bottle turned vase for a handful of fresh cut pussy willow branches, in their usefulness they become beautiful.
















I have jars in my refrigerator, jars on top of the refrigerator, jars in my bathroom and under the kitchen sink, even a few jars on my counter. Some people collect knick-knacks. I collect jars full of goodness. 


Here's just a few in my collections ~
From left to right: Ant Killer, Dishwasher Detergent, Shaved Soap, Bone Broth, Viili Yogurt, Flax, Cold Remedy.


ANTS
I was amazed to see ants under my cupboard the other day. It's March. I live in Minnesota. Really? I have a bucket under the sink that I keep for collecting scraps for the chickens. This, and the mild Minnesota weather, brought the army. I don't like bugs in my house. I quickly googled "homemade ant poison" and found that borax, sugar and water make a fine poison. I mixed one part borax with three parts sugar, covered with water, stirred and poured a little onto a plastic lid. I did that yesterday. Today there are no ants!


SOAP

In my attempt to make all my own cleaning products, dish soap and dishwasher detergent have alluded me for quite some time. I've tried MANY recipes. Recently I found recipes for both that work better than most. Not perfect but better.


Dishwasher Detergent
1 c. borax
1 c. washing soda
1/4 c. citric acid 
1/4 c. salt
I also added about 20 drops of grapefruit essential oil. Use 1 T. per load.


Dish Soap
1 T. grated homemade soap
1 T. vinegar
1 T. washing soda
Add 1 1/2 c. boiling water to the above ingredients and vigourously stir until soap is dissolved. Add tea tree essential oil. 


Instructions for bone broth can be found here.


Viili is my newest favorite homemade yogurt. SO EASY! When I see my yogurt stash is depleting, I top my jar with milk, give it a good shake and place it on top of the frig to inoculate for 10 hours or more. The longer it's left at room temperature, the thicker the yogurt becomes. I bought my starter here. But if you are in the area I share! 


Cold Remedy
The other day I shared my "Day of Garlic" which incredibly relieved me of most of my symptoms. On Monday, although I was feeling tons better, my throat was still a little so I made some Lemon-Honey Sore Throat Relief. 


I cut 1 lemon into chunks, added 2 cloves of garlic, 3-6 pieces of candied ginger and topped with honey (1/2 cup or more? I don't know....I forgot to measure). I stirred and squished this all together. I added about 1/2 T. ...or a little more to a cup of hot water. Yum. Store in the frig. 








DaisyButton1

Comments

  1. I love jars, too! So simple yet so beautiful! Love your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really enjoyed reading about and seeing your jars!!!! I have LOTS of jars although probably not as many as you :-) I save mayo jars and use them for a lot of things as well as canning jars.

    Thanks for linking up over at WholeHearted-Home Wednesdays.

    BTW someone told me my button didn't work too well, so until I have time to make another one (and try again... :-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stay-cation: Fun Things to Do Around Rochester, MN

Family vacations are expensive. Gas, lodging, meals...oh, and then there is the admission cost to all the cool things that you want to see. Vacations cost more than a small fortune. Now figure in the loss of income (some of us don't get paid vacations) and you've "broke the bank". Enter the stay-cation. Gas costs are reduced. Lodging is covered. Meals, although still necessary, can be made at home and packed in a cooler. This summer, instead of taking a week off, I am taking a couple long weekends. One weekend we will be traveling "Up North" to visit my husband's college buddy. Otherwise we're keeping our exploring near to home. Another benefit to a stay-cation is a little extra time for home projects. I can keep up with the laundry, instead of having a week's worth of laundry to do when I return home. Isn't that the worst part of vacation - the accumulation of dirty clothes you have to wash after being away from home all week? Gardening ca

Thy Will be Done

Years ago....June 2012 to be exact..... while at the hospital bedside of my daughter , I cried "Heal her!" which was followed with as much conviction, "Thy will by done". And I meant it. The Holy Spirit equipped me to pray for God's will and not my own. The Holy Spirit equipped me to pray that whatever the outcome, he alone would be glorified. photo credit: Tessa Rampersad Since that time, "thy will be done" isn't as easy to pray when going about my normal, everyday life. How was it that I was able to so easily submit the future to his hands when I was facing my hardest days. Not by my power but by His. The past couple of weeks, as I prepared emotionally for the celebration of my youngest's 18th birthday, I've been revisiting this need to release my child into the hands of God. I've spent too many moments wondering if I've done my job in preparing my son for adulthood. I've spent too much time being anxious for his future

What mama did ~ LOVE

Joining Lisa-Jo in another five minute write. Five Minute Friday is writing without thinking too much and not worrying about the mechanics......just allowing our hearts to speak.  This week we get to choose our own word to describe "what mama did". Mom and Me, Christmas 2011 My mama loved well. Three babies, one of which was born without breath, born well before the young age of 20. I was the first, born shortly after her seventeenth birthday. My sisters followed, arriving two months early before my mother had even turned eighteen.  Mom always told me, when I was old enough to figure out that I was in her belly at the time she married my dad, that they wanted to marry so badly but because they were so young their families wouldn't allow it. So I was a gift. A planned excuse for a wedding. When I got old enough to know that this was probably just a story to ease a young girls insecurities, it was too late. I already believed that I was wanted. I already knew tha