Yummy Felafels

I love flavourful foods. I love complex tastes making love to my taste buds. These felafels do that for me. combined with an awesome tzatziki sauce and yammo, you have yourself one yummy dinner.

Ingredients 
1 can chickpeas
1 small onion
3 slices of bread (if using homemade bread you'll have to experiment with it a little)
4-6 cloves of garlic (I have been using 1/2 tsp of garlic powder lately)
2 tsp cumin
2 tbsp dried parsley (you can use fresh, just adjust the amount)

In a food processor puree chickpeas, onion, bread and garlic. I usually do one ingredient at a time and then put it in a bowl. You don't need it to be completely smooth like peanut butter but you definitely want it to be fine.

Mix the processed ingredients and the remaining ingredients in a bowl.

Make mixture into 1" balls

Put in a 450 degree oven for 20 minutes.

The felafels will be crispy on the outside and still soft in the middle. And did I mention oh so yummy!

I used to serve them in pitas with lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber. The kids had a hard time with it as their pita's would rip or the filling would fall out. Now I serve it over couscous that has been flavoured with garlic powder and cumin. Even my husband likes that better, and I do to. You can even eat them by themselves just as a snack. Healthy and a flavourful punch. That is a winning combination.

Ode to the Dishwasher

As said before, simple living means different things to different people. One thing I have been trying to do, in my simple life, is cook the majority of my food from scratch. Of course, there are times when we eat out, or the kids beg for Kraft Dinner, but on the whole I am trying to do my best to cook food with real ingredients.

One thing I have discovered in my quest in home cooking is that it uses a lot of dishes. To make a homemade cake you need a bowl for wet ingredients, a bowl for dry ingredients, measuring cups of various sizes and types, measuring spoons, a spatula, a wooden spoon, a whisk or perhaps even an electric mixer. That is for just one cake! If you want to make your main meal, depending on what it is, you may need a large pot, a medium pot,  mixing bowls to use and then a casserole dish. By this point, forget about using serving dishes, the pot or pan the food is cooked in works just as well, thank you.

The thought of having to wash all those dishes, plus the dishes we use to eat the food with, and doing that for every meal... eek! It is not a pretty picture. In comes the dishwasher. Oh that sweet thing of beauty. Knowing that I have a dishwasher that will help make the cleanup happen makes me excited to want to cook and explore what culinary masterpiece I can create. Make a cake and a three course meal? Sure, no problem! I have a dishwasher.

There are some people I know that like washing dishes by hand. It gives them a chance to be alone and reflect upon their day and catch up with themselves. I think that is great. If washing dishes by hand gives you much needed self-reflection time, go for it. I used to like doing them by hand before I had kids. I could wash them and feel I had accomplished a great thing for my household of two. Now that I have kids, washing dishes by hand is the worst thing, at least for me. I swear, I collect and organize the dishes, make sure the kids are doing something fun, make sure they are well fed, run the water, add the soap, wash the first dish and... "MOM!!! I'm hungry. Mom, she touched me. Mom, can you help me with this? Mom, when are you going to be done? Mom, can you help me with this snap?" Seriously. The worst part is that this usually happens after dinner when my husband is home. And I'm like, "Ask your dad!!!!" Seriously. So for me, dish washing is not a zen experience.

When we bought this house, almost two years ago, I was excited because it would be the first place we would have lived in our married life that had a dishwasher. And it was great for the first month, then it went kaput. I think it was an original fixture with the house to be honest. I was crushed. Then this past Christmas we got paid out a small sum for some unused holiday time. That same week my favourite brand of dishwasher went on sale, for that amount. I think it was meant to be. I have been in heaven ever since.

I'm not trying to tell you that you have to run out to buy a dishwasher if you want to cook from scratch. I'm not saying that a dishwasher has to be part of your simple life. I just want you to know that it can be. You can be living a simple life even with a dishwasher. If you are starting on this road to simplification (heck, I feel like I am just starting to cross the start line on my own journey) a dishwasher could be your friend, especially when you have young kids. I would rather spend my time with them, then doing up their snaps with sudsy hands.

Living the simple life does not mean doing without some of the comforts that are now available. It means, not running out to get the latest model, and to acquire things of good quality and usefulness. It needs to be something that adds to your quality of life. Things are to help you live, you don't live for your things. And my dishwasher, it helps me live.

Have a Happy Easter everyone!

Help if you can

Hello blog readers.

I don't normally do this, but, my friend needs all the help she can get. My friend Sherryl is a beautiful woman with a smile that instantly warms your heart. She is living in Canada far from her husband and five children, who live in the Philippines. Her daughter, Princess, had a brain tumor that caused her to go blind and now is undergoing treatment for another tumor that was discovered at Christmas. Sherryl left her family to come to work in Canada so she could send money home to help cover the medical bills. She has been here for two years only seeing her family via skype.

This family has struggled and sacrificed to pay the previous bills. Now, Princess has to undergo a radiation treatment, something they weren't expecting. They are in need of help to cover the cost. They are doing an online fundraiser with a site that ensures that Sherryl and her family will get 100% of the donated funds. If you can donate or would like to know more about this story you can do so here. Any amount, no matter how small will help.

This is a true story. I wouldn't be putting it on my blog if I didn't know Sherryl and their families struggle personally. If you have checked out her story and feel for her and her family please share it with others so that they can help this family too.

Thank you!

Meredith

My friend Sherryl and her family. Princess is on the end.

Spring is finally here!

The Snow has melted. The grass is coming back to life. The shoots are showing! It is definitely spring. This morning while my little one was napping I was able to get some yard work done. I picked up sticks that fell during the winter and got rid of some leaves that fell after the snow came. It was super windy so I didn't get as much accomplished as I wanted, using a rake was pointless. But it felt great to be out in the sunshine and the warmth, despite the crazy wind. I am looking forward to getting the front and back ready for enjoyment and beautiful bulbs.

That's one thing about my house's previous owners. They did crazy things inside (we are constantly scratching our heads about something, a barn door in the basement? Really?) but on the outside they got it right. Last spring the coolest looking tulips came up and daffodils and poppies. Beautiful is the only way to describe it. Now it is up to me to make sure it stays looking good and not getting over grown. (Some of the things they planted was a bit too much of a good thing, but we're getting there.

Enjoy your spring day. Here are some pictures of what I found while out working in the yard. It definitely fills me with confidence that spring is actually in Waterloo!

Remember my winter picture from December? What a change!

Liquid Laundry Soap

Last Friday my husband was at a leadership training. The kids were all asleep. I had the night to myself. So, what should I do? Why, make Laundry Soap of course.

Laundry Soap was one of the first things that I learned how to make when deciding to live more simply and hopefully frugally. You can make a powder, but I prefer the liquid as our front load machine has a liquid soap dispenser.

There are only three ingredients needed when making laundry soap.

• Borax
• Washing Soda
• Pure Soap

If you are making a powder you just mix those ingredients together and you are done. If you are making the liquid you need one more ingredient. Water. That's it. Pretty simple and pretty cost effective. There is some upfront cost, as you have to buy the box of borax and washing soda and the bars of soap, but they will last you a long time. I finished making my third batch of detergent and I still have enough soap left to make one more batch and enough Borax and Washing Soda to make many more after that. 

I found the idea for this detergent from the down to earth blog by Rhonda Hetzel. If you have not been to her blog yet you must go. She is my simple life guru. She keeps me motivated and always gives me something to think about. Her blog is my treat everyday.

So what do you need to do.

1. You will need to grate up your soap using the fine grater option. You will need to have 1 cup (About 1/2 the bar). I used sunlight laundry bar soap. It smells lemony while grating but the finished liquid does not have a lemony smell. You can also use ivory or any other kind of pure soap.

2. Measure out the rest of your ingredients. You will need 1/2 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup borax.

Now when i was researching how to make laundry soap, one of the most common questions I cam across was where do you buy washing soda? The answers that were given were not helpful to me. As when I went to the stores where they said it was I could not find it. But now I will let you in on the secret of where to find washing soda, at least in Canada, and I'm talking anywhere in Canada. (If you are outside of Canada, sorry can't help. But keep the faith, I'm sure you can find it too.) Home Hardware! Honestly is there anything that that store doesn't carry? I go to the Home Hardware in St. Jacobs and they had washing soda in their laundry aisle. Now not all Home Hardware's carry all the products available to Home Hardware Dealers. But they will order any product in for you. So if your local Home Hardware doesn't carry washing soda, ask them to order it in. They will be happy to oblige. They are all about customer service. So now you will always be able to have washing soda. No matter where you live. Home Hardware is in every small town and large city I can think of. You can also get Borax at Home Hardware too, but you can also easily get it at your local grocery store in the laundry aisle.

 3. Put all ingredients into a largish pot and add 1L or so of water. Heat up mixture until all ingredients are dissolved. To get them all dissolved you will get your mixture to almost boiling. Don't let it get to a real boil as it will totally boil over. While this will help get your stove top nice and clean, the soap mixture will get everywhere, and I mean everywhere. This does not make for a fun clean up job. Trust me I know from experience.

4. Once everything is dissolved pour into a 10L bucket and fill it up with water. Give it a good stir and voila. Laundry Liquid. You can now divy it up into containers and get ready to do some laundry. I use some old pop bottles we have lying around. When filling your containers leave some head space as you will want to give it a shake before using the detergent. Some day I will put them in pretty glass containers, but for now this is what I have, and they work.

Some websites that I have seen say to let it sit in the bucket overnight. I have never done this but I will give it a try next time I need to make it, which won't be for a few months.

To use the liquid I add between 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup per load. The detergent does not sud up so it is safe to use in HE washers, though if you are warranty conscious you might want to see if that will void your warranty or not. I have used this laundry soap for over a year now and I find it gets my clothes clean, it is cheap, and it is like doing a fun chemistry experiment every time you make it. You will save money by making your own detergent.

This detergent does not have an smell. If having a detergent smell great is important to you you can add some essential oils. They don't serve a purpose except for smelling good.

So have fun making homemade laundry detergent. It is a little thing but it makes you feel pretty cool!

THE JUNK 'Tis the Season to get Organized Finally!

before

Well it is starting to look like spring outside. There is still lots of snow. And the temperatures aren't quite as warm as they could be. But, I see grass in my front yard. The sun feels warm. And it is not -30. The temperature is steadily climbing today and is supposed to continue to climb overnight. That makes me super excited, windchill and all.

With all this Spring feeling organizing fever has over come me. Now is the time for me to get organized and I'm really excited about it. It is also frustrating too as the rest of the family hasn't caught it yet. But I'm sure they will and I'm sure we will all be happy about that, right?

after

The first room that I tackled was my older children's room. I had been meaning to do it for awhile but, I'm discovering that a one year old and trying to go through stuff is not a good combination. So things are going a bit slow and that makes me feel ancy and that I'm not going to accomplish anything! Luckily, during the March Break my husband took the day off and took all three kiddos to the museum and I went to town on their room, finishing it off later that week.

 So as you can see before and after. What a difference. Now the kids actually know where their toys are supposed to go. I finally know where the toys are supposed to go. And the best part. It has been about two weeks now and their room still looks neat! Amazing. It is also amazing what a bag of recycling and give away will do to make a room look nice. My next project is to get the office downstairs looking nice. More pictures of that to come.

What do you do when you get in the organizing mood? Do you have any tips of the trade to make it easier?

THE JUNK - Doing the Pile Shuffle

Last week, since it was March break, I had time to do a bit of organizing around the house. I tidied and cleaned the babies room, as that had become the dumping ground of things we weren't sure what to do with when we were doing a quick clean before guests came over. It was amazing the things that came out of that room. I also had the opportunity to tidy the older girls' room. It was ridiculous, I swear my 7 year old is going to be on the show Hoarders when she gets older. By the way a shout out to makers of all children's movies, you made my job going through their stuff much easier. I thank you.

While I was going through the rooms I made the inevitable piles. Piles of clothes to go through to see if they still fit or not. Piles of stuff to go to different rooms in the house. Piles of papers to file, recycle, or shred. Piles that have been sitting there for months waiting for you to do something about and you just get complacent and don't. Piles, piles everywhere.

In a perfect world there would be a place for everything and everything would be in its place. When we were using something we would put it back in its aforementioned place. Life would be quite peachy. When spouses or children asked where an item was we could tell them with confidence instead of racking our brains retracing its steps and trying to remember the last place you saw it. I call that stuff utopia.

I do not live in stuff utopia. Instead I deal with the pile shuffle. No matter what room you tidy there always seems to be a pile of things that made the great migration out of their spot into a room they do not belong. It seems that tidying is just a shuffle of stuff and that it seems to be a never ending shuffle of stuff. The worst is when you are in the middle of a tidying or organizing project and you can't finish it. You have to leave your piles and hope you get back to them soon, otherwise the stuff in the piles want to have a party and start moving and making new friends in piles that are not their own. Or sometimes you simple don't know where to put the item, or don't have the storage set up to house the item. These items are in pile limbo, being shuffled everywhere.

The worst culprits for the pile shuffle are toys. With three kids ranging from 7 to 1 we have toys for different ages and interests. Some toys I have in their bedroom, others are in the living room, the rest are in the playroom in the basement. Yet without fail, the 5 year old wants to play with the babies toy, or their Barbies in their room need to have a movie party downstairs etc. etc. The worst is when they are playing and then want a snack so they bring their toys into the kitchen put them down while they get a yogurt and then leave them there on the floor for me to step on when I do my cooking stuff. I had to ban toys from the kitchen, and so far, so good.

While, we cannot get rid of the piles altogether as they do come in handy, there are somethings they can do to use them as a help and not a hinderance. Here are some tips I thought of while in the middle of the chaotic pile shuffle.

1. Put piles in baskets. This is super helpful for piles of things that don't belong in that room. It makes transport of these items to their proper home so much easier. It also helps keep the piles contained. They won't become the leaning tower of Pisa and merge with other piles. It also helps break up your cleaning. Once the basket is full you can take a break and walk around returning items to their homes. It is nice to be able to take a break to help you feel refreshed and ready for the next round of organizing.
2. Make sure you actually deal with the pile. I know I have just dumped a pile onto the couch or the dining table and then just left it there. If you don't deal with it immediately the items will disperse, get ripped, wrinkled or lost. I know after a long day of organizing it is the last thing you want to do, but your sanity will thank you later.
3. Be honest. If there is an item that always seems to be in a pile, ask yourself "do you really need that item?" If it so important to you it should have a home, or making it a home should be your top priority. If you don't, maybe you shouldn't have that item. (This does not count for files that are needed for taxes or other necessary things like that. Bite the bullet and get a filing system, seriously.) Also, if there is an items that are always in your bedroom but it's home is really in the living room, perhaps you should change its home to the bedroom. Some battles are worth fighting but where a certain toy or magazine is kept is not worth it. Ask yourself "is this really the best place for this?"
4. Give away piles need to leave immediately. For items that are giveaway it is best to put them directly into the box or bag you are going to take to the donation place. As soon as the tidying is done or the bag is full put that bag into your car or out in the garage so no one is tempted to pull things out. You want those items gone, make it as easy as you can for yourself. We are saving items for a yard sale. We have a dedicated spot for those items. It is in a closet so we cannot easily see what is in there. This makes it easier for those items not to get back into the rooms.
5. Be realistic. Right now I have three young kids. My expectations for what I can get through, organizing wise, is quite low. My 1 year-old is quite fast at emptying baskets, getting rid of piles, finding the quickest way to make the biggest mess. It is a true art really. Don't give yourself a huge pile to sort through unless you know you have the time to do it, without interruptions or "help" from little hands. It will make you feel frustrated if you are constantly not able to get it done. Accept what you can do with your limitations and be happy with that. Also accept that you might need help and do what you can to get that help.

Remember the less your things go on vacation the less rounding up of them you will have to do. Make their homes a place that makes sense for their use and try to educate others in your home of where they belong, but listen to your families input as well. What might make sense to you, will not always make sense for others. Work together on this.

What do you do to reduce the amount of time you have to do the pile shuffle?