What have I've been up to lately??? 7/1/11

I've been asked this question several times the last few days and there is so many ways I can answer it. First, let me tell you we have had the experience from "The Netherworld" with our phone, internet, cable provider! We decided it was time to switch from our old satellite company because we were not happy with the picture quality and prices. We had known for a while of this new AT&T Uverse service and we were waiting for it to come to our area. It finally did and we set everything up, not a problem...or so we thought!
It has been going on for two whole weeks where we have no phone, cable or internet!!!! We would get it for an hour or two and then it would loose it's signal for another day or two, on and off it has been. I am on right now and I don't know how long it will stay on! The question I'm sure you are asking is "why don't you just cancel the service and give up?" Well, because we are a stubborn family and the reality is that the picture quality we are getting is amazing...for the hour or two we are actually able to see it! Hahaha! I don't know where or how this is going to end, but this has been one aspect of my life for the past two weeks!

My Fibromyalgia Diet

Right before we lost our internet connection I had been doing some research on how to help myself and my Fibromyalgia. I have to face it, this is here and unless the Lord decides to heal me (and I believe He can) it's here to stay! I read in one of the blogs I follow The Chronicles of Fibromyalgia that there are five fingers of the whole well being - Diet, Sleep, Stress, Hormones and Exercise. I had read this in one of the books I was reading but hearing it from someone that is going through what I am going through made it more real for me! I decided to tackle the first one...Diet! I have changed my diet drastically and I am already feeling much better! I feel like I can do more things throughout the day and have more energy (this is a biggy for me). I have eliminated- All sugar, Carbs, Gluten, Caffeine, Most Red Meats, Pork, and because I am going through the detox part I can't have any fruits except for berries (and that's a cheat) etc, etc, etc. Yes, I have no life! Hahaha. I have been on this diet before and it's not so hard this second time around. I guess the reason would be because I'm not doing it to loose weight (even though I am :0) but for health reasons. Gluten and Sugar are like poison to my body and I just have to learn to live without them. Will I have them at times? Yes, but I also know that with it will come the pain and aches that are basically gone at this moment.
I have found some incredible recipes that I will share with you at a later time! My whole family is loving them and they are not even on this diet!

How to make Liquid Hand Soap at home

While all this has been going on I have had a chance to start on two projects, one of which I will share with you today.
A few weeks ago I found a how to make your own hand soap, idea on Pinterest. On this blog I found how to turn a Bar soap into Liquid Hand soap. It looked pretty easy and I decided to try it!
Here is what I did:

INGREDIENTS
1 Bar soap - Grated
10 Cups of Water
1 TBS Vegetable Glycerin

EQUIPMENT
Cheese Grater
Large Pot
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Wooden Spoon for turning
Soap Container with hand pump
Container to hold extra soap
Funnel

DIRECTIONS:

1. Grate the Soap. In this picture you can see that half a bar will make about 1 cup. In the second picture we have 1 1/2 cups of grated soap. It took 3/4 of the bar soap to make 1 1/2 cups. As I continued with the recipe I decided to add the remainder of the soap because it was not thickening up like the recipe said it would.

2. In a Large Pot add the 10 Cups of water, soap and Glycerin. Turn on medium/low and stir until the soap dissolves completely.

3. When it is dissolved you will see that you have a lot of bubbles on the top. Use the same spoon and remove as much of the foam as you can.

4. I had to let it sit over night for it to thicken. I don't know if it's the type of glycerine I used or what, but

I've read this can happen sometimes. For some, all you have to do is wait until it cools completely and pour into the soap container.

5. The next day my soap was like a big lump! I had to use my hand blender to smooth it out. I think I added a little more water too. You will have to decide this ones it cools and you see what the liquid hand soap is like. If it's too runny, it might need more glycerin and soap. If it's too thick it will need more water.

When I was done with the blender it was smooth just like any other liquid hand soap!

This recipe will make about 6 bottles worth! Imagine the money we are saving just by making our own hand soap!

Questions???

I get this question all the time, "why do you make all these products that you can very well buy at the store?" My answer is always the same..."because I love it and because I want to bless my family!" 

The Bible teaches us to be good stewards of our money and to be our husbands helpmate. I want to make sure I am doing everything in my power to help our family. Do I have the money to buy these items at the store? Of course I do, but why should I, if I can bless our family by saving us some money?  I also use coupons and if I can get any of these homemade items at a very low price or for free I will get it at the

store no problem!

Proverbs 31 talks to us about the woman whom the husband safely trusts her so he will have no lack of gain! She does him good and not evil all the days of her life! When we think of evil we don't ever put over spending as evil right? It can be if it's bringing problems to our lives! She willingly works with her hands! She considers what she is buying and then buys it! How many times have we gone and bought something without thinking? This is when we over spend!

I can go on and on, on this chapter but I'm not :0) I think it basically answers the everyday questions I get? Don't you think?

If you try this recipe let me know how it turns out and what challenges or tips you may have for us!