Busy summer and bee stings

I've been on a little blogging break. We have had a lot of things going on around here and I just have not had the time or energy to blog

There was a chili cook off and potluck for my church. I made caramel applesauce cake, chocolate oreo caramel brownies and chili. I won best chili!

The kids have had camp and youth conference. I would like to say I saved a little on groceries during their absence but I still had 3 kids at home and I think they just assumed any extras were for them. So, the groceries didn't last any longer with half the kids gone.

I harvested a few butternut squash. Giving into my daughter's pleas, I mixed it with some pumpkin and made a yummy pumpkin and butternut squash pie.

I also found a great deal on bananas. .29 a pound! So, I bought several pounds. Froze some and made banana bread with some.

We had some of our beloved missionaries leave from our area. We tend to grow a little attached to them and it is always sad to see them go. But, we wanted to send them off with something delicious and that meant a Costco cake.

Me, Nana, and my youngest girls had the privilege to visit Belle grove plantation.

It was pretty awesome but one of the things that I really loved was the door in the basement

 It was huge and sturdy and the hardware was cool. I wish I had a door like this at my house

Right as things were starting to calm down, my youngest son stepped on a bee. His foot is so swollen, poor guy. We have iced it, given him benadryl and put some doterra oils on it. Those things have helped some but  it is going to take a few days. he's having a hard time getting around which is hard for him because he wants to walk around and show magic tricks to everyone he meets. Crutches have helped with that though. 

Here I was thinking how boring my summer has been. I guess there is always something going on here

Washington D.C LDS temple, so Magnificent!

A few weeks ago, I took a little break from my daily chores and went to visit the D.C temple for the first time.beautiful is an understatement. It was majestic and magnificent!It really was breath taking and I felt honored to be able to be there

Thursday harvest!

Our Thursday harvest! 5 lbs of onions, 5 lbs of cucumbers, 2 lbs of tomatoes and a bell pepper.
We have had a lot of wind and rain so some of my onions, even though on the smaller side, had to be pulled.
So I cut them up and freeze them. I love freezing as a way of food preservation. It's fast and easy and freezing preserves the flavor of the produce really well.

I also made some delicious freezer pickles with all my cucumbers. I just learned how to make these a week ago and they are so yummy. It is a great way to preserve your cucumbers.

The magic boy who lives on my 1/2 acre

My 1/2 acre homestead is usually buzzing with activity. planting, weeding, harvesting, cooking, preserving, egg gathering, coop cleaning, feeding animals. We have some pretty hectic days. 

But, we also have lots of entertainment just in case you think this kind of life sounds lame and boring. The bonus, we don't even have to leave the house.

I have a magic boy living right here. He's pretty talented and very entertaining. I think I'm a pretty lucky mom to have such an awesome kid!

This is his disappearing card deck trick!

Snack mix Zucchini fries, my new favorite

I found some yummy looking zucchini fries on pinterest and I wanted them. But I didn't have any bread crumbs. I did however have a snack mix that had pretzel balls and mini cheddar cheese toasty things so, I decided I would toss that in my food processor with some parmesan cheese. The result, was absolutely delicious.
So here is my recipe

2 Medium zucchinis
2 cups snack mix
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
3 eggs
1 cup flour
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Cut the zucchinis into fry size strips.
mix the snack mix and parmesan cheese in a food processor, then, put the blended mix in a bowl
Mix the cup of flour, salt and pepper in a separate bowl
whisk all 3 eggs in a separate bowl
dip the strips of zucchini in the flour, then the eggs and finally in the snack mix.
Bake on a cookie sheet at 425 for 12-15 minutes

Homemade deodorant!

A little over a year ago a decided to stop using commercial deodorant and use homemade deodorant instead. So, I searched the internet for a homemade recipe. My requirements were that it was easy, and I had to have the ingredients already in my house. Within minutes I found a recipe that fit my criteria.
I whipped up a batch and then it sat on my bathroom counter. Before I started using it, I wanted to see how long I could go without any deodorant. I was curious if there was some sort of build up from my commercial deodorant.
Now, I am not a scientist or doctor but it took 7 days before I needed deodorant and the first 3 of those days, even after my shower I could still smell a hint of my discarded deodorant. My theory (my own personal opinion) seemed to be accurate. The commercial deodorant had built up and seemed to need some clearing out time.
Finally, 7 days after making my homemade deodorant, I got to use it. It was a little weird at first. I had to apply it with my hand instead of  using a fancy little stick. But, I have long since gotten used to it and I love it! Very rarely do I have to apply it more than once, even when I have been sweating. one batch lasts for months and is very inexpensive.
The one thing I have learned is the things I eat affect how my sweat smells. When I eat healthy, I don't have any scent to me. When I eat something that's not so good for me, my sweat has a weird, funky smell.
Here is my recipe:

1/2 cup arrow root powder or corn starch
1/4-1/2 cup baking soda (it depends on what you prefer)
5-6 TBS unrefined coconut oil

That's it! You can put essential oils for scent in it if you like but I don't. I like the mild coconut scent.
I mix my ingredients in a bowl and put it in a little plastic snack container with a lid. It keeps for months and does not need to be refrigerated

This week on my 1/2 acre

Cantaloupe! I was so worried when I planted the cantaloupe that it wouldn't grow well because I have NEVER had any luck with cantaloupe. So, I planted ALOT of seeds. I thought a few would germinate. Well, I think every one of my seeds germinated because we are getting TONS of cantaloupe. 

Of course I had to plant butternut squash as it is my favorite!

 I have watermelon! I was so excited when I found that they were growing. I have never grown watermelon, but they are doing really well. Just seeing this picture makes me happy

Here is another one I have never had luck with, bell peppers. Each of my plants has all sorts of peppers crowding in though. I can't wait to pick them.

Of course a garden isn't complete without Zucchini

It is a sad day when your babies are no longer little and have to moved from a bin to the chicken/duck coop and yard. They are very happy to have so  much room to run around and a pool to swim in. They also love their friend Coco who has taken them under her wing. 

These 3 babies have grown very fast. They are almost as big as Coco. 

Why I don't "No Poo"

I tend to lean toward a more natural lifestyle. Using less chemicals in my home and on my body makes me happy. I love meeting those who are like minded so we can share homemade deodorant recipes or talk about which oil we use for face oil washing. Of course there are those things I just can't seem to get rid of no matter what I do. This post happens to be about one of those irritating things.
I CANNOT get rid of my shampoo. Please don't misunderstand me. Being the natural lady I am, I have attempted many times. I have made multiple homemade recipes. I have used baking soda and vinegar. I have used homemade dry shampoo and washed with just water. But my hair can't seem to cooperate.
I don't have thick glorious hair, I have straight, fine hair. Not to be mistaken with thinning hair. I have alot of it, but it is fine. It is also a grease making machine.

Exhibit 1:

In this picture, you see my hair is oily. Unfortunately for me, I had washed my hair exactly 24 hours before this picture was taken

Exhibit 2: 

In this picture, you see my hair is looking pretty gross. The oil runs all the way down to the tips. But I had washed my hair exactly 48 hours before. It looks like I washed it last summer. 

The homemade shampoos always leave my hair greasy. Like I never washed it.

Although the vinegar did condition, the baking soda dried my hair out so much I thought it would start breaking. (Later I learned due to the high PH levels, you really shouldn't use baking soda)

 I think my hair is just way too oily for dry shampoos because it would look oily AND look like I had something in my hair

As for the water. Hey, if you can get away with only using water that is great! But, I am not one of those lucky people. Water alone only seems to add to the oil.

Instead, I have opted for less toxic shampoos. If my hair ever changes or I come up with something that actually works, I will let you know. But for now, I don't do the no poo thing.

Motivating teens to help with the "big chores" It can be done!

I'm busy. I always have a long list of chores and projects to get done and very rarely am I lounging around the house. I hate days that I sleep in. They don't happen very often but it happens. It makes me feel like I have wasted day light hours. 

Getting my many teens motivated to help with all the chores is a feet all it's own. My teens think the complete opposite as me. They think sleeping hours are during the day and night hours are for being loud and having reality show marathons. Night time is the time to eat all the food in the house while day time is to waste all the meals that have been prepared by claiming they aren't hungry because they are "too tired to eat." Remember, this doesn't mean your groceries will be cheaper, just that if they are too tired to eat now, they will be ravenous wolves later and eat everything. But instead of eating the leftovers, they want "new" and "better" food". 

This also means trying to get them to help around the house can be a challenge. So I have devised a list of ideas that might help

How to get your teens to help

1. Politely ask them to help you with the weeding

2. offer them rewards if they help you clean the chicken coop

3. Baby them and let them know you understand how unfair life is, that way they will feel like you get it

4. Ask them their opinion, they have many and it's important that you hear all of them

Okay. Remember I said a list that might help. But, here is my list and it works

Mom: Kids, it's time to get up, you and so and so are weeding the garden.

Teen: But I'm sooooo tired. Can't someone else do it? Can't you do it?

Mom: I don't care, quit staying up so late, get up.

Teen: I don't know why I have to weed, I didn't plant the stupid garden. I don't even eat the food from it.

Mom: You eat the food, it's called dinner so get up because you are helping whether you want to or not.

Teen: grunts, groans, makes whiny noises, sighs

So, here is a real list

How to get your teens to help

1. wake them up by saying "It's time to get up"

2. You can give them a reason if you choose to, but try not to argue because then they think helping is up for debate

3. Don't baby them (when they are fully awake, they hate being babied)

4. Tell them what you expect form them

5. Don't back down, even when they whine

6. Thank them for helping when they are helping. praise is always important no matter what age

My Teens always remember they love me after they have done their chores and often while they are still doing them. 

Honey bee attacks and weird chickens

My poor wounded Hoolie

My poor little farm dog Julio(Hoolie) was attacked the other evening. At least he thinks he was. He was running happily around the yard with the breeze blowing through his ears. I was giving the chickens a treat and all of a sudden, Hoolie started screaming as loud and as high pitched as his little chihuahua lungs would allow. (it's surprisingly loud) So I came running. Hoolie was holding his extremely wounded(that's what he thought) leg up and out to the side so mama could investigate. I found a honey bee stinger around his elbow and pulled it out. I had to calm him down but he felt attacked and he went to bed for the rest of the day and skipped his dinner. He was too upset to eat. Morning came around and Hoolie was no longer feeling attacked and wounded and was walking just fine. But when I asked him how his leg was he started limping again. It lasted about 15 minutes and once again he was fine. 

On another completely unrelated topic, chickens are funny and strange little creatures. Here, Betty (white) and Mildred are on the preferred nest trying to lay eggs. At the same time. What was interesting is they were both fine with it. Mildred (the black and white cuckoo maran) laid a very interesting egg today while sharing the nest. It was very long and skinny. The egg I am holding it next to is her egg from yesterday. It is a normal size egg. Do you ever get strange shaped eggs?

Just a homemade girl style time!

It's time once again to get our style on here at Justahomemadegirl! 

Part of the appeal to these posts is my adorable model. She doesn't really do the poses I tell her to, she's got her own thing going on but it's okay because as I said before, she is adorable!

So here you go!

Here you see three different views of this outfit. I love the pale pink skinny jeans paired with the sandals and a cream colored, lace peplum top. Plus, you can hang in a tree comfortably with this outfit. Win, win!