Hippiemommy

Blog

  • Descriptive Praise

    http://aolff.org/

    I’ve been devouring my way through Crystal Lutton’s Biblical Parenting this week. I have known Crystal for quite a while, so I feel like I’m doing this backwards, but when my friend had her book sitting on the couch, I couldn’t help but steal it, lol.

    Yesterday’s lesson for me was on descriptive praise. I have often heard that you shouldn’t use subjective words like “pretty” or “good”, instead you should use descriptive praise. I wasn’t really sure that this would work, and I honestly wasn’t sure that it is how God works. I kept thinking of

    Luke 19:17″ ‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’”

    Here it seemed to me that God was being both subjective and descriptive, but then I suppose that God knows what is well done or not, lol, so maybe its not subjective. Hmm, I’ll have to think about that.

    Plus, non-descriptive praise is everywhere. Even Joe on Blue’s Clues tells kids they’re “really smart”. It didn’t seem like a huge deal to me. I’ve never told my kids that things that they do make them “good” or “bad”. I know that’s a big no-no.

    Anyways, this quote in Crystal’s book helped to give me a nudge to change.

    If your child brings you a picture tell them what you see. “You used lots of green. I see squiggly lines and some straight ones.” If your daughter asks what you think of her dress tell her what you see. “It’s blue and it has flowers.” You will be amazed at how her face lights up. My son calls me into his playroom to show me what he’s done with his cars and I tell him what I see. “You have lined them up and all the trucks are together.” He feels a sense of accomplishment and knows that I have noticed his hard work because I can tell him what he did.

    So yesterday we made brownies. I’m using up the last of my Duncan Hines dairy-free mixes (which they’ve done away with, but that’s another blog entry). My 4-year-old son always pulls up a chair to stand next to me when I am mixing, and he always helps me to stir. He asked if he could do it all by himself, so I gave him the spatula. He stirred for a good minute, and did it to completion. Instead of my usual “Good job, you stirred the brownies.”, I said “You stirred the brownies completely. Now they’re ready to go in the pan.”. He looked like I had just told him that he had won a lifetime supply of toys, lol. He lit up, stood taller, and looked so proud. Its amazing what a difference of a few words can make!

    Thank you, Crystal! )

  • Kids and Chores

    This is a topic that I’ve been thinking about quite a bit recently. We’ve never had any kind of formal chore charts for our kids, but they are always happy to help when it comes time to pick up the house. They help enthusiastically and with a generous heart. I have thought about making charts, but I wonder if that will take some of the enjoyment and the gift of it away.

    I found some lists online for what should be expected for each age, and my kids do pretty much everything on there. There are some things that don’t apply (like feeding pets – we don’t have any), but they are great about doing the items on there that apply to our family.

    So I guess I’m just wondering what you do with your families. If you have a chart system, when did you start?

  • The importance of time spent outside

    I think my mom was naturally very Charlotte-Mason-minded ) I’ve started working my way through Home Education, and I am really loving it. I am realizing how much my mom focused on the same things that Charlotte encourages. We spent a lot of time outside, had limited tv time, did lots of reading, and my mom worked hard to instill the proper habits in us.

    I know that I am just at the tip of the iceburg, so I am trying to implement one little thing at a time ) Right now I am focusing on making sure that my kids get a good amount of time outside to play, learn, and just be kids ) Both of them are naturally drawn to being outside, so this has certainly been an easy thing to do. It is really amazing to watch them play and learn out there.

    Our regular outside time was probably for an hour or so every other day. It varies depending on the time of the year, and this time of year is probably a low-point for us, since it is pretty chilly out. I’ve been working on letting them have more time outside, even if they are doing more observing than playing (like by walking to the store instead of driving), and it is so fun to see what they notice in the world around them.

    I’ve also been working on Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. My son has been having a blast with it. He just turned 4 last week, and I think that his young age is helping a bit. He calls it the “reading game”, and I’ve worked hard to make sure that it is fun and that there is no pressure. If I see it start to become any kind of a burden, then I’ll back off, but for now he thinks it is great. He has always loved books, and now he’s having fun sounding out the words and running his finger under them ) Its really cute.

    Well, I need to go make a grocery list. I didn’t get to do my regular Grocery Game shopping this week, so now I bet it’ll be way more expensive. Oh well, Sunday was our Superbowl party and then I had class Monday and Tuesday, so it was just too hectic. I guess I’ll get some good practice in making my own list…

  • Cleaning Naturally

    When I first started reading about all of the dangers of the harsh chemicals that I was using for cleaning, I was overwhelmed by all of the choices out there. It seemed like most of the recipes used all sorts of exotic ingredients, and I was afraid to invest in a bunch of supplies that would leave me with ineffective cleaners.

    I scoured the internet looking for new ways to clean, and here’s a collection of some of my very favorite recipes! Several of these were given to me by my friend, Kym, so if you’re reading this, thank you! I’ve altered each of them a little bit, either in the way that I use them or the way that I mix them, so I hope everyone will all be able to benefit from my trial and error!

    *You can find great spray bottles at the dollar store or at wholesalers like Sam’s Club.*

    Everyday All-Purpose Cleaner
    2 cups distilled or bottled water
    1/2 cup vinegar
    6-8 drops essential oil (tea tree, sweet orange, and lemon are all faves around here)

    Although most people don’t realize it, ordinary household vinegar (5% solution white vinegar) kills 99 percent of bacteria, 82 percent of mold, and 80 percent of germs (viruses). It is a great all-purpose cleaner!

    Combine all ingredients in large spray bottle. Gentle shake to blend before each use. If vinegar scent is too strong, try adding a few drops of chamomile, sweet orange, or lavender.

    Creamy Peppermint Soft Scrubber
    1 cup baking soda
    1/4 cup Borax laundry booster
    1 TBS Castille soap
    5-10 drops peppermint essential oil (use less if pregnant)
    *You can also use Peppermint scented castille soap instead*
    1/4 cup water

    Combine all ingredients in a glass jar. I used mason jars, but you could also recycle a mayo or similar jar. Fasten lid and shake very well. Pour onto surfaces to be cleaned (formica, tile, porcelain, granite, etc.) or onto washrag and watch grime and residue disappear with very little scrubbing effort! Rinse well with the hottest water you can stand – no need to polish fixtures afterwards. They will shine so nicely! If you notice it getting too thick after time, then you can add a little more water and shake it up again.

    Lavender Blossom Glass & Window Cleaner
    2 cups distilled or bottled water
    1/2 cup vinegar
    6-8 drops lavender essential oil

    This is very similar to the all-purpose cleaner. I use them both for the same tasks. Just shake it up and add other essential oils or more lavender if you find the smell too strong.

    Olive-Citrus Dusting Polish
    1 Tablespoon olive oil
    1?4 cup lemon juice or vinegar (lemon juice is much more fragrant, but they work equally well)
    2-4 drops tangerine or sweet orange essential oil

    Pour all ingredients into clean, recycled glass jar. Attach lid and gently swirl to blend ingredients. Dip soft cloth into mixture and polish to an old fashioned, healthy luster. I have also used this mixture by placing it in a spray bottle and spraying it onto the cloth or surface when its time to use it.

    I ran out of this cleaner recently and didn’t feel like making up a new batch (total laziness on my part), so I used some of the store-bought furniture spray instead. It was so gross! I can’t believe that I used to use it all the time! It put all sorts of nasty fumes into the air and made our floors all slippery (from where the residue had fallen). I will never ever go back now!

    Rosemary’s Residue-Removing Counter Cleanser
    (use a hot water rinse with this to get gunk off of counters, especially in the bathroom with hair spray!)
    1/2 cup distilled or bottled water
    1/2 cup castile soap
    4-6 drops rosemary essential oil (if you are pregnant, have high blood pressure, or epilepsy, use sweet orange or tangerine instead.

    Combine all ingredients in spray bottle, gently swirl to blend, and spray directly onto surface. Wipe with a soft cloth, then rinse well with hot tap water and enjoy the shine!

    I hope that these recipes that I’ve compiled will help you on the path to natural cleaning. If you have any questions or comments, please post them and I’ll check back soon!

  • Meal Planning for Dummies

    If there is one thing that I know, its food! I love food. I love cooking. I love eating. I don’t really like cleaning… that’s a different article though…

    My problem with meal times came when it was time for me to decide what to make. On the days where I would plan earlier in the day, I would inevitably realize that I didn’t have the proper ingredients, so I’d either go to the store and spend a bunch of extra money or else I’d just give up all together and convince my husband to eat out instead. It wasn’t until I made a meal plan that worked for our family that I was able to overcome this beast (and save a ton of money in the process).

    My meal planning has gone through several incarnations. Each has been wonderful for that phase of my life, but as our family grows, I find that our needs grow as well. I encourage you to try a few different plans, and if the first one doesn’t work, don’t be discouraged. You’ll find a good one!

    When my son was very young, I made a great system using the Mastercook software. I entered in all of my family favorites and divided them into 4 weeks worth of plans. Each week I would choose a plan, print out the grocery list (it makes one automatically) and I was done. It was easy, and after the initial setup, it took almost nothing to keep up with it.

    You could do the same thing without any special software: just write down your favorite meals and then write down the shopping list on another sheet of paper. If you have a notebook for all of your family business, just stick the pages into a sheet protector and you’re good to go! You can also do this on your Palm Pilot (Handyshopper is a great program for this) or in a program like Word.

    As my kids started to get to the toddler stage, I realized that cooking every night was getting to be more challenging. I just couldn’t get that much time alone. At this point I decided to start using freezer cooking (aka once-a-month-cooking or OAMC). I didn’t want to spend an entire day in the kitchen, so I doubled and tripled recipes instead. My very favorite was my ziti recipe, which I will post in the recipe section. It really wasn’t too much extra work to double or triple the recipes, and I was able to buy my ingredients in bulk, which was much cheaper. I would double/triple recipes for a week or two, then coast off of the food in our freezer for another few weeks, then cook again. It was a good way to buy a little extra time!

    Then, in 2004, we discovered that my son was severely allergic to casein, the protein in cow’s milk. I had to rethink all of our meals. Milk, cheese, and butter were staples of our meals, and most of the frozen meals were casserole-type dishes, and they just weren’t that good on our new, more restrictive diet.

    To work around this issue, I have gone back to a plan that I used when I was a working wife (before my kids were born). In this plan, I had a set “theme” for each day of the week, but I would sit down on Sunday (that’s my shopping day) and decide what exactly we will eat on those nights. Having the categories helps me to decide quickly.

    Our current schedule is as follows:
    Sunday – Bible Study (potluck dinner) or Italian (if there is no study)
    Monday – Breakfast for dinner
    Tuesday – Asian
    Wednesday – Soup and sandwiches
    Thursday – Mexican
    Friday – Pizza
    Saturday – Traditional / Family Favorite

    So far, this is working very well for us. I currently use the grocery game. In order to make it fit with my schedule, I check what is on sale with the grocery game, and then I try to incorporate the sale ingredients into my meals. Honestly, since you do so much “stockpiling” with the grocery game, there are very few items that I need to pick up each week for my meals. I “shop” in my pantry/fridge instead, using items that I have stockpiled.

    I am happy with our current system, but if our needs change again, then I’m sure that we will adapt to meet them. I still bulk cook a couple of meals each month. I like to have them around for busy days or if I am called from church to bring a meal to a fellow mom who has just given birth.

    Feel free to comment if you have any questions or suggestions. I’d love to hear what works for your family!

  • Casein-free Pumpkin Bread

    3 1/4 cups flour
    2 tsp ground cinnamon
    2 tsp ground nutmeg
    1 tsp ground cloves
    1 3/4 tsp baking powder
    1 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp baking soda
    1 can of pumpkin (I use pumpkin that I’ve frozen – about 2 cups)
    1 1/3 c sucanat
    2/3 c. vanilla almond or rice milk (water works too)
    1/2 c. vegetable oil
    2 tsp. vanilla (you can omit if you use vanilla milk)
    2 eggs or substitute

    Preheat to 350. Coat 2 loaf pans with cooking spray. Mix the flour through baking soda in one bowl and then combine the pumpkin through eggs in another bowl. Whisk the wet into the dry until the batter is moist.
    Bake at 350 for an hour or until toothpick comes out clean

  • Casein-free Banana Bread

    1 1/2 cups flour (I either use 1/2 white and 1/2 whole or all whole – I started out 1/2 and 1/2 to see if anyone would notice, but now I’;m doing 100% whole)
    1 tsp baking soda
    1/2 tsp salt
    1 cup sucanat
    2 eggs or enough egg substitute/banana/applesauce/whatever to make up for the moisture and stickiness of eggs
    1/4 cup Earth Balance, melted
    3 bananas, mashed
    Enough vanilla almond milk to make a good consistancy – maybe 1/2 cup here, but that’s high-altitude cooking

    Grease (I use an olive-oil spray) a loaf pan and preheat the oven to 350. In one bowl, whisk the flour, soda, salt, and sucanat. Min in the egg substitute, melted Eath Balance, and mashed bananas. Add the almond milk until its moist but not squishy
    Bake at 350 for an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean!

  • Stuffed Zucchini

    4 medium zucchini (about 1 1/2 pounds)
    2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
    OR
    ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
    10 spinach leaves
    8 basil leaves
    4 cloves garlic, peeled
    1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
    1 medium carrot, peeled and quartered
    1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
    3 large plum tomatoes, chopped
    1 teaspoon salt
    1 cup dry breadcrumbs
    ¾ cup (3 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
    1 large egg white

    Cut each zucchini in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4- inch-thick shell. Set pulp aside. Cut each zucchini shell in half crosswise.

    Steam zucchini shells, covered, 3 minutes. Place on paper towels to drain; set aside.

    Place zucchini pulp in a food processor; process until finely chopped. Spoon into a bowl; set aside.

    Place rosemary and next 5 ingredients (rosemary through carrot) in a food processor, and process until finely chopped.

    Heat oil over low heat. Add rosemary mixture. Cover and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add zucchini pulp, tomatoes, and salt; saute over medium heat 20 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in breadcrumbs. Let mixture cool. Add cheese and egg white; stir well.

    Preheat oven to 350.

    Divide mixture evenly among zucchini shells. Place stuffed shells on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

  • Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Today I altered my mom’s oatmeal chocolate-chip cookie recipe to be vegan, and it turned out amazing! The best part was that we could eat the dough safely! Yum! My casein-allergic son was in heaven

    1 cup vegan Earth Balance (or you could use butter)
    1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
    1/2 cup white sugar or sucanat
    Replacement for 2 eggs – 4 TBS water, 2 TBS oil, 1 tsp baking powder
    1 tsp vanilla
    3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
    3/4 cup wheat flour
    1 tsp baking soda
    1 tsp cinnamon
    1/2 tsp salt
    3 1/2 cups oats
    1 cup vegan chocolate chips (We use “Tropical Source” brand)

    Cream the “butter” and the sugars until creamy. Add the egg substitute and vanilla. Beat well. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well. Hand stir oats and raisins.

    Bake 10-12 minutes in a 350 oven.

    I make them one batch at a time and store the rest in the fridge. That way we don’t eat them all at once!

  • Vegetarian Lunch Ideas

    I have been a vegetarian off-and-on since 1992, and I have found that its easy for me to get stuck in a rut when it comes to my meal planning. Before I know it, I’m only eating a few different meals. I thought I’d go ahead and post some of my lunchtime favorites. If you have any, please feel free to comment and add them on!

    Make Ahead Lunch Wraps
    Summery Tomato Pasta Salad
    Peanut Butter and Jelly
    Peanut Butter and Banana
    Baked Beans on Toast or Cornbread
    Vegetable Soup
    Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese
    Nachos with guacomole and tons of fresh veggies
    Pizza
    Pinto Bean Pasta Salad (Pintos, tomatoes, pasta, corn, cauliflower, broccoli – whatever is in your pantry, basically) with Italian dressing on top
    Peanut Spaghetti
    Yellow rice with black beans
    Deviled Eggs
    Chickpea “chicken” salad in a pita

    For more ideas, check out this amazing site: The Vegan Lunchbox

en_USEnglish
en_USEnglish