"New" Canisters for Storage

I have an extremely small kitchen.  There are two small drawers.  All the silverware and utensils are in them.  I HATE stuff on the counters, but there is always stuff- chargers, bills to pay, kids treasures, keys, phones.

These have no place to call home at my house.

Then I saw these at a second hand store.  

They were $1 and look very beat up, but I like the shape and knew they were the answer to my countertop woes.

I scrubbed and painted:

I liked them two-toned and I liked the original black handles.  So I kept the tops black.  

They cost $3.50 for blue spray paint.  I had the black on hand.  

Total cost $4.50 

I will store paperwork that needs action in the large one, cords in the next largest.   I could even label them with a white board marker.

Cloth diapers Medium!!!

 Our little guy is already into medium sized diapers!!! He's growing fast! 
I like sewing and experimenting with sewing.  I like to reuse things that would be thrown out to make something useful. I like to sew them myself because I don't want to spend a lot on diapering, but do want it to be easy.
Sewing my own diapers has many benefits.  I can try different designs with no risk.  Since I spent $0 on the materials I can try a pocket liner, a snap in layer, a different shape or size with no worries.  If it doesn't work, I can throw it out with no guilt- it was trash to begin with anyway!

The new born diapers I've made work great, but I've learned that I want to change a few things.

I don't think flannel is the best material for making a diapers.  It's too rigid to get a good fit on baby.  This time I will use flannel for the absorbent part and upcycling T-shirts for the diaper.  The stretch makes it easier to get a good fit on the baby.  

My husband just got new undershirts- the old ones are being made into medium size diapers for baby! :)

Diaper construction:
Cut it out.  If you are a novice seamstress like me, I suggest squaring off the tabs in front and back so that the your sewing will look more consistant at the end.  Trying to make the curved tabs the same on both sides is difficult for beginners like myself.  
Inner:  2 layers of an ugly old T! Sew to that:  leg elastic and the soaker.  For the soaker, I used 6 layers of the T-shirt only in the front.
Outer: 1 layer nicer looking T. 
Put it together:  Put the pretty sides of the diaper together.  Sew around the edges.  Sew around the outside of the elastic. Leave an opening in the back.  Turn it right side out.  Sew around again the edges.  Leave an opening in the back where you turned it.  You've make a pocket where you can add extra absorbancy if needed.  This time sew around the inside of the elastic so that the first seam is outside of elastic and one seam is to the inside and it makes a casing for it.

I'm testing absorbency of this diaper today.  It fits great.  It's trim and soft.  If I need more absorbency, I'll add some in the pocket.

Resources:
Fitted diaper discussion.  
sized patterns
 Spreadsheet from diaper sewing 101 Baby Center page. Everything you need in one place!

Freezer cooking

In anticipation for the holiday season and the birth of our baby, I have decided to do some bulk cooking to put in the freezer.

This week the stores have great sales, so here I go.

Pork Roast .88 cents a pound
ground beef 2.00 a pound and
chicken quarters .59 a pound
Sausage .99 a pound

Today I spent a lot of time cooking 30 pounds of chicken quarters.  Then I boned it and shredded it- blech!!

I ended up with around 100oz of chicken, great right?

Well I spent $18 for 30 pounds of chicken.  It was reduced to around 7 pounds of chicken after cooking and throwing away bones and skin.  That is about 2.80 a pound.  Moral of the story...  next time boneless skinless chicken is on sale for 1.99 buy it and save a lot of work! :)

Tomorrow I'll continue my quest for 60 freezer meals...

I sat at the table while I shredded though and watched a great movie- Take Me Home.  It's and independent film about driving cross country in a cab and the relationship that ensues.  I really enjoyed it.

Time is Money

I love to make it myself and save.

Sometimes though, time is more valuable and it pays to know when to buy it instead of make it.

Reading at this blog has helped me to make decisions about whether or not it's worth it to make it myself.

I am a stay-at-home mom.  Occasionally I work as a substitute teacher.  When I work, I make $12 an hour.

My logic:
Spend my time wisely by buying things:

• that would take me more than an hour to make 
• and that cost less than $12. 

Today I made a judgement call.  I was given an enormous box of organic- non GMO tomatoes from a friend.   I'm leaving town for the next two weeks the day after tomorrow.

I gave away many tomatoes yesterday, but still the box stared at me from across the room.

My decision?  Spend time to make them into sauce, or throw them away.  Spaghetti and pizza are some of our families favorite meals.  Still, I was tempted to carry the treasure to the can since it's trash day.

Instead, I found a recipe and got to work.
I set the timer to see if my time would pay off.

Washed and ready to go- the bad spots were trimmed off.

While I waited for the water to boil, I set up my assembly line. 

I decided to add a blender because
I don't like chopping and my littles like smooth sauce.

Boiling to remove skins. The worst part! :)
Tip: recipes say 30 seconds to split, mine took much longer.
Just keep boiling, enjoy your free steam facial!

Put in ice bath- yay for ice makers!  This is the first one I've ever had! :)

Another tip- keep your cutting board in cookie sheet and catch all that juice- no drips!

Slide skins off.  Some tomatoes never split, I made a slice and they slid off.

Put in blender- whirl em up.

Between batches I cut up onions, peppers and garlic.
 I added WAY more garlic and onions!

Done! It has to simmer a long time to thicken.
I remembered to rinse all pots, blender and utensils so they won't have glued on terribles.
Also I used the damp towel from drying the tomatoes
 to wipe all cabinets/counters that may have splashes or drips.  :)
After it thickens and cools, I'll freeze it.
Real canning intimidates me and I don't have jars. 

 It took me one hour and twenty minutes to do all of this.  It should yield 18 cups of sauce.

My hour and a half yielded about 9 family servings. My time is worth that.  Also this is organic sauce and I know exactly what is in it, which is priceless to me. 

Now I'm going to nap while it simmers.  I'm six and a half months pregnant and I've been really busy, so I think I've earned it.

An hour of sleep is worth more than $12 to me!

PS- logging back on to offer one more tip.  When I went to stir the sauce, I noticed the water/juice had risen to the top.  I ladeled it off and got four bowls of tomato soup so that it would have evaporated away. I loaded it up with cheese and sour cream for my lunch! :) Gotta have a full tummy for my nap!