Yet Another DIY Recipe

  Hi all!

I'm at home today.... enjoying the quiet joys of cleaning and organizing and thinking. We've been extremely busy at the deli this week  and so these quiet days at home every couple weeks give me a chance to relax, recharge and enjoy thinking. I like to think..... am I weird?? :)

So I've been all domestic this morning and decided to show you how to make:

HOMEMADE FOAMING HAND SOAP

I don't know about y'all, but we go though a lot of hand soap, and we don't even play in sandboxes and mud puddles either :). I don't particularly care for the cheap antibacterial soap you can buy and I also don't care to spend $2-$3 dollars on a bottle of good smelling stuff that will last about a week so I make my own :) Once again, I found this  here and promptly tried it and loved it. That website is amazing for all kinds of DIY cleaners and laundry soaps, etc. 

Your first stop will be a grocery store/Walmart/whatever. You will need to buy a bottle of dishwashing detergent. I got mine at WalMart and the options are endless:

I use mostly Dawn, simply because they have good scents and the soap isn't as strong as Palmolive and as weak as Sun or whatever else. This is going on hands, not dishes, remember, so don't get anything too powerful :).

On a whim, I picked up Great Values knock-off of Dawn's Olay with Hand Renewal and I like it. I paid $1.97 for the bottle and have no complaints.

You will also need an empty hand-soap bottle. NOTE: you MUST buy a foaming soap with the special pump in order to have your soap turn out foaming. I bought a Dial hand-soap awhile back, used it, and am now using the bottle to make my own.

Pour about an inch of dishwashing soap directly into the empty bottle. 

 Fill the rest of the bottle up with water from the tap, and then shake well. It will result in looking like this:

If you like a stronger soap, use more dishwashing soap; if you like a more mild kind, use less. I've seen suggestions for adding food coloring to give it a boost of color but I never do that. I'm scared it will stain my hands plus I just find it unnecessary.

I love making soap this way.... it literally takes seconds to make, smells really nice, and is a whole lot cheaper than buying new bottles every time you run out. After I made this bottle, I estimate that I can make at least ten more batches after this. Probably closer to 15 but if I can only make 10, that will be a cost of $.20 a bottle. Not bad, compared to $2.00 for just one bottle that would last us a week.

I was telling my grandma about this a couple months ago and she told me she's been doing this for years. Ha! And I thought it was a new pinterest thing :). Goes to show Grandmas are more valuable than Pinterest, because what is now in vogue to do has been done for years and years by the older generation.

Catch ya next time,

Vicki

Book download!

Hi all,
I'm interrupting this series of posts to tell you about a book written by a friend of ours who is a missionary in Liberia. We met Nancy Sheppard and her husband Mark and their family when we lived over there.

 Amazon describes the book this way:

When Mark and Nancy Sheppard began missionary service in Liberia, Nancy had no idea what God would ask of her. Their idyllic first term was followed by the Liberian Civil War and a nightmarish year working among Liberian refugees in the Ivory Coast. Conditions were difficult, expectations overwhelming and the tensions of the war at their doorstep. Fear, self-pity, resentment and depression haunted her. God used Nancy's difficult decision to follow her husband's leadership and remain in refugee work to begin an amazing spiritual journey—one that led to a clearer understanding of biblical womanhood as well as a deeper relationship with the Lord and with her husband.

The book chronicles Nancy's journey to true peace in the midst of very difficult circumstances. As God teaches her about genuine service, submission, sincere prayer, reverence and humility, she is totally and completely transformed. The scenarios are unique to Nancy, but every seeking Christian can fully identify with the spiritual lessons.

A unique reading experience, this interactive eBook contains many full color pictures as well as links to pertinent YouTube videos. This Kindle edition of "Confessions of a Transformed Heart" will not disappoint!

I snatched this book right up when it was released and it really is a good read. And the good news right now is that you can get a free ebook download from amazon for the next couple days. Here is the link:

and if you read in spanish here is the link:


 Each download improves the amazon ratings of the book so download away and help bless the Sheppards in their ministry in Liberia. Feel free to pass the word around as well. It's a wonderful book and I know you will enjoy it.

Their son, John-Mark also wrote a book about Liberian English and it's on its way to my house now. I can't wait to read it!

Thanks!
Vicki

Homemade Fabric Softener

Okay, so here I am again, with a frugal DIY tip. I love being frugal and spending my money wisely so I love new tips on better ways to do it.

And so I present to you:

Homemade Fabric Softener

And giving credit where its due: I came up with this formula after seeing a couple "recipes" floating around and combined what I liked best about each. This is where I got the base.

It's quite simple and actually kinda fun because you can experiment with different scents. The cast of ingredients:

6 cups hot water

4 cups vinegar

2 cups hair conditioner (any scent)

2 Tbsp. Purex crystals dissolved in hot water

I usually just pick up the cheapest brand of conditioner. Suave has good prices and a good variety of scents so that's what I use. It's really simple. I just pour all the ingredients together in an empty fabric softener bottle, shake really well to mix and then its good to go. The purex crystals are optional but I like to use them to calm down the vinegar scent of the mixture. It's not very strong but the crystals do make it smell more like Downy. If you wait to get them till they're on sale it really shouldn't be too expensive, considering that you only  use two tablespoons per batch.

I haven't done any calculating but I think homemade softener is cheaper than buying especially expensive brands like Downy. This recipe mostly fills up the following large Purex bottle. ( don't go by the half-full amount on the picture).

So there you go! It works great, is fun to make, and what's not to love about it? 

Coming up: 

Homemade Foaming Hand Soap,

A Great Alternative to Glade and Febreeze Plugins

A Book Sale From My Very Own Collection of Books

Stay tuned!

Kindness Drives a Black Truck

We could hardly have figured out a worse predicament. We had just left a lovely weekend with Liberia friends at a reunion and were 25 minutes down the road when our engine light came on. It was pouring rain, on a Sunday evening, in a town whose name we could hardly pronounce and our power was going out. The windshield wipers were going slower and slower so we pulled in to a small gas station. On my dad's way in to see what he could do, he happened to ask 3 country boys standing around outside if they knew where he could find an alternator, since he was fairly sure that was the problem. They told him there wasn't much around so we decided to keep on going and see if we could make it to a place with more options. We had hardly started when he figured out we wouldn't make it so we pulled into a nearby bank parking lot to make some calls. My dad went back to the same gas station to see what he could do and the aforementioned boys were still there and remarked that we hadn't gotten very far. My dad soon came back and we waited in the pouring rain, trying to figure out what to do, when they drove up in their big, black truck. They jumped out and said they had been talking among themselves, trying to figure out how they would feel if they were traveling through GA and got stuck with the same problem, so they decided to come see what they could do. Turns out one of them works for a junk yard, so he thought he could get an alternator for us. They roared off and returned 15 minutes later with two alternators. They grabbed the second one last minute in case the first didn't fit and it turned out to be a smart move. They labored away in the pouring rain, bent over our van, taking the old alternator out and putting the new one in, while we sat in the van, slack-jawed that these people were taking time to help us (and we weren't even in the South!) The Lord heard many bits of thanksgiving and beseechings of blessing for these men as they toiled away. They got the alternator put in, jumped off the van for us and made sure it was working properly. We paid them well, and thanked them profusely for their labors but they kinda shrugged it off and said maybe if they are ever in the same shoes, someone will return the favor.

It's easy to get jaded in a world full of murders and rapes and kidnappings and suicides. World events are hostile and uncertain. But because of three unselfish young men, goodwill and compassion reigned supreme and became proof that they really do exist. Kindness is a universal gift, and sometimes it drives a black truck.

The Art of Dining Out

My family owns a deli/sandwich shop in a beautiful, Southern town. We thought we were busy when we opened two and a half years ago but we are busier than ever now. That is, if you call making 200+ sandwiches and 15 gallons of soup a day, busy. Our food prep line is similar to that of Subway, so folks get to watch us make their food, and chat in the meantime. There are six of us that run it and it keeps us all busy most of the time. So we have definitely learned a lot about food service, customer service and how to keep customers happy. And trust me, we have the best customers a person could wish for. We talk about it constantly, how blessed we are. In spite of hastily serving a couple hundred people every day, we have managed to get to know a lot of our customers on a first name basis and are privileged to call them friends. We have folks who eat with us almost daily. Fine, fine people. In fact, for every disgruntled, demanding customer, we probably have 50 super nice, friendly and obliging customers. And since we've been in business now, and have developed a kind of routine, we have learned a few things, which has changed some of our mannerisms of eating out. So I've compiled a list of things that hopefully can help you be a better customer when dining out:

As a customer:

-Be friendly.We have customers who can just walk in the door, and we all sorta smile and perk up because they are just so funny, or upbeat, or happy. That would have to mean shutting off the cell phone. We try to provide fast, friendly service because many of our customers are on lunch breaks. When you are on the phone, we can't be fast or friendly because we don't have your attention. If the call is urgent, finish it before stepping in line or ask the other person to hold so you can answer our many questions about bread and cheese and veggies, and all that good stuff. I realize that this friendliness thing is not always easy as a customer, particularly if the one serving you is not friendly or chatty or helpful. But be as friendly as you can.

-Don't take advantage of free. We provide complimentary cups of water to our customers. Free water is great for those trying to lose weight, or pinch pennies. Please don't fill your cup with lemons provided for paying customers, and dump in the Splenda. It might be poor man's lemonade but it's not considerate to the restaurant. We do have cost in the water, the cup and everything else, not to mention the time it takes to cut up all those lemons. This might not be illegal, but I deem it unethical- along with taking extra packs of taco sauce from Taco Bell with the intentions of putting it on your homemade burritos at home. And making cutesy DIY crafts with paint chips from paint stores. Google it once and you'd be surprised at how many projects promoted on Pinterest and other places demand huge quantities of these paint chips. One I saw was for decorating a dorm (since you aren't allowed to paint) by gluing hundreds of these paint chips to a wall for a splash of color. Don't try to tell me too that it's free advertising for the paint companies. Half of the finished projects don't even have the paint names on them. And who's going to look at a cute little homemade paint chip bookmark and say, "Oh, I want to paint my room that color!" Probably not happening.
-Be aware of what's going on around you. If you have finished eating and are just chilling, while others are leaving the restaurant because of no free tables, it would be considerate to think about leaving. We aren't going to ask you to leave, obviously, but we do appreciate when folks give up their tables for people waiting to eat.

-Leave a clean table. Especially if you are doing fast food, or don't have a waitress to clean up after you. A few crumpled napkins on the table and floor can make a dining area appear very messy. We try to keep the dining area clean but crowds of people and limited tables don't always let it happen. And speaking of dirty tables, please don't choose the only dirty table in the room and ask us to come wash it when you are surrounded by clean ones. Seriously! And when you are finished, push the chair up neatly against the table. These are little things that can make big differences!

 And now,even when we eat somewhere where we have a  waitress, we still try to tidy the table. Put all the trash together, stack the plates, etc. It shows the waitress that we care about their job and appreciate all that they have done for us. Trust me, we have learned a lot through this experience :)

-Be aware of the dynamics of the business. For example, we serve long lines of people and try to do it quickly because people are on lunch breaks. Therefore, if you want your veggies cut up finely, ask for them on the side and then do it yourself. In a busy food prep line, we are chefs, not food processors.

- Be honest with your experience. We hope you enjoyed your stay with us. But if you have a complaint, do tell that as well. We can't fix what we don't know about.

This wasn't written to incriminate anyone or put anyone on guilt trips if you have or have not done some of the things I mentioned. We were ignorant of  a lot of them too, because we had never been on the other side of the line.

And once again, here's a big shout-out to all the wonderful, funny, friendly souls who grace our tables. They have become friends and we couldn't make it without them!

I should probably do a follow-up post on The Art of Making Dining Out A Good Experience-- in other words, to the folks on my side of the line. We certainly aren't perfect and make many mistakes in customer service. The responsibility of not only providing good food with a smile, but of representing Jesus is huge and we feel it.

So now.... you out there. Yes, you! What think ye? What do you do as a customer to make eating out a win-win situation all the way around? Or what are pet peeves of yours as it relates to those making your food and serving you. This could be really interesting :) 

Vicki

beautiful words

I am enjoying some new (for me) Christmas music this year. This song especially is beautiful and the words powerful. An excerpt:

....." By holy intervention

An act of love divine

In union with mortality

Make incarnation mine."

Beautiful.... the Holy One, taking on flesh, walking our roads,eating our foods, getting dusty with our dirt

all to save us.

I keep thinking of Mary and her amazing role in this. She began His life by delivering him. He ended His by delivering her. I wonder if He has a special place in heaven for her; his mother/daughter?

I hope to write more later....

Vicki

Today.....

was one of those days. You know, where everything goes somewhat wrong and you do stupid things. First off, it was my day off, but I had to go in to the deli over lunch time to help with the lunch crowds. And today everybody in Thomaston, 1/2 of Atlanta and parts of Colorado and Puerto Rico came in to eat. It was hectic for awhile because we only have six people working and we needed more like 10. People wanting sandwiches, people calling in sandwich orders, people calling to see what kind of soup we have, people placing cake orders, making 14 gallons of soup, deliveries to unload and put away. At one point we just laughed cause there was nothing better to do.

So when I was finally able to leave I stopped at Dollar Tree to pick up a few things for our dinner tonight. Dollar Tree really has some neat stuff although most of it is fairly cheap (as in quality). I happily discovered this:

and added it to my cart. It hit me a full 4 hours later what I had actually bought. My lower set of braces came off last week and I'm going in tomorrow for my retainer and I've been thinking of it all along as dentures. I think I even told someone I'm getting my dentures tomorrow. Thankfully it only cost a dollar so it's not worth a trip back (or my dignity) to return it.

So after that experience, I filled up the white car with gas. It's a little different than my car because the gas tank lid screws completely off versus screwing off and hanging by it's cord. So I filled up, and was heading home when I saw the lid was open. I immediately was scared that I had forgotten to put the lid back on and it was laying somewhere on the busy four lane highway I had just turned off of. So I quickly pulled over, and relief! I had just forgotten to close the lid.

On the way home I was mentally reviewing supper plans which were to include a white chicken chili, blueberry muffins, and a new starbucks caramel apple cider copycat recipe that I had found. There, laying on the floor of the passenger side, was a big jug of apple juice staring up at me. I thought I had bought apple cider which I needed for the drink. So we didn't have that special drink after all. We had Fruit Punch KoolAid instead. It's not what you'd call an upgrade at all.

Oh, and I was feeling all DIY-ey and made some homemade shaving cream. It was super easy to make but ended up being really runny and not very lathery. Ingredients include baby oil, shampoo, conditioner, and lotion.

Then my mom came home sick. And when Mama's sick, it kinda affects everybody. Hopefully it won't hang on long, although friends of ours have been battling this for over a week.

But then there were a few bright spots in the day. The white chicken chili ended up being delicious and creamy. It has the perfect amount of heat to make it interesting.

I enjoyed playing with the dogs for awhile. They were in desperate need of attention and I got in some fresh air.

I also did some writing. I do very little of that so an assignment is just what I need to make it happen.

And like I said, I was feeling DIY-ish so I spray painted some thrift store picture frames white. I intend to fill them with scrapbook paper for a cheap, artsy looking wall display at the store. I'm not a very even spray-painter, but that's all I'll say cause this half of the post is supposed to be positive :).

Oh, and then there's the chocolate candy bars infused with strawberries that came all the way from Europe via Aldi, the supermarket. You can't be too upset after eating a few bars of that.goodness. Why can't Americans make good chocolate?

So all in all, it's a good ole world, even after one of those days.