Laurie's Everyday Notions

Our local grocery store has a produce bargain bin which, on the right day of the week, is filled with some great deals. A couple of weeks ago the deal was spinach. I think the check out lady may have thought my name was Popeye when I loaded my cart with every bag of bargain priced spinach. I bought 8 bags of spinach at 50 cents a piece! I had nothing to lose thinking if I couldn't use it the chickens would.   After a couple days of fresh spinach smoothies, spinach salad and sauteed spinach, I realized that I should do something to preserve my abundant supply of spinach. Other than a few pieces for the hens, the majority of the spinach was in excellent condition. After doing a little Google research I decided to steam, puree and freeze my load. Spinach to steam, bucket of spinach for my hens, a pile to pick through My favorite steamer Draining the steamed spinach Puree Spinach I added a little coconut water to assist in blending the spinach...

It is week 3 and I'm joining other homeschoolers on the "Not" Back-to-School blog hop which means it's time to share a photo of my student.  Isaiah, 7th grade 2012 Since school hasn't started yet (we usually wait until a week after public school begins), I'm sharing a photo from my son's trip to Canada. Two weeks ago my dad took my boy on a fly-in fishing trip. I love that my dad enjoys teaching my son his favorite hobbies. While in Canada, Isaiah was responsible for cutting firewood, starting the evening fire and keeping it going. He also practiced his fishing and fish cleaning skills. He returned home just in time to begin football practice, followed by a weekend camping his Boy Scout Troop. I think he may be too tired out to start school in two weeks. :)

Yesterday, as I was searching for a free photo editing site, I stumbled across  http://www.befunky.com/ . I changed this photo: To this: Free, fast and easy

My little herb garden. Stevia, lemon verbena, lemon balm and mint. Mint is rich is Vitamin A and Vitamin C as well as containing a small amount of Vitamin B2.   Benefits of mint: Aids digestion and can ease an upset tummy Here's an obvious one ~ discourages, or covers up, bad breath.  Eases morning sickness. I remember mint chocolate chip ice cream being one of my favorite "cures" for morning sickness when I was pregnant with my daughter. Unfortunately, when I was pregnant with my son, I only found Pringles to give me temporary relief from morning sickness. Stress reducer. A cup of tea, with the warm scent of mint, can be so relaxing. Reduce migraines with a cup of mint tea (goes along with the stress reducing properties of mint). Antioxidant which may prevent cancer. Helps alleviate nasal allergies. Relieves congestion and head colds. I've found the easiest way to dry herbs is on a hanger. I secure a rubber band around the hanger. I th...

I know, I know, it's not Friday. It's Saturday (again) but that's when I'm able to write a bit more spontaneously in the quiet of my house while sipping coffee in my pajamas. So forgive me for being late to the party (as usual).  Lisa Jo gives a prompt every Friday and women around the globe unite as they write for five minutes on this same prompt word. During these five minutes I fight back the urge to edit, to rewrite, to check spelling and let the words flow. Five minutes goes quickly. Today's (or yesterday's word, if you want to get technical) is STRETCH. Last weekend, after working in the bee hives, I took off my mud boots and bee jacket as the warm morning sun deemed necessary. I grabbed my camera and found a place to sit just a few feet from the hives. The sun was warm but the breeze was cool. In the quiet I watched my bees, snapped a few photos and pondered how God had brought us through this summer. This summer which will most likely be remem...

I'm not a coupon clipper, although the thought intrigues me. It seems when I do look for coupons I only find coupons for processed foods. I'd rather save my money in other ways. I've also found that being frugal can naturally lead to living green and eating healthier. 1. No paper products except baby wipes and toilet paper because, to put it into simplest terms, I don't like dealing with poo. Which means I still haven't switched to cloth diapers for my daycare babes. I use cloth napkins and washable hankies made from old t-shirts . For day care licensing the kids are to have "single use" towels to use after washing hands. Instead of using paper towels I have a basket of wash clothes that are used for "personal" hand towels. If I entertain for a crowd larger than my supply of dishware, I do buy paper plates and napkins but otherwise I try to make do with my washable stock. 2. No canned foods (or limited). I make my own "cream of...

Many styles of bee suits abound. I decided against the full body coverall type suit when a bee keeping friend mentioned how warm one gets while working with the bees in the heat of summer. I opted for this style solely on the fact that it was cheap....or cheaper than all the others. It works as I've yet to get a bee in my bonnet or have a bee crawl up my sleeve. Knowing that I'm safe from bee stings because, really, there are only a few people crazy enough to enjoy bee stings, helps me to keep calm when there are hundreds of bees buzzing around my head. Being amidst a swarm of bees is really an amazing event….as long as you can keep your cool, which is what my bee jacket does for me. Only once was it necessary for me to walk away for the deafening buzz so that I could regain my composure (and sanity). I also opted for the bee gloves thinking that they too would protect and provide me with a sense of security. Although they accomplished these tasks, they are also big and...