Book Review: The King's Christmas List

The King’s Christmas List by Eldon Johnson, illustrated by Bonnie Leick is a children’s picture book about a little girl, Emma, and her dog Shu-Shu. In this imaginary tale, Emma and Shu-Shu receive a golden invitation to the King’s birthday party. They collect a gift for the King and set out in a horse drawn carriage for the party. Along the way, they encounter some families in need and give away their gifts and treasures to help. At the party, they discover that by helping the families in need, they gave a gift to the King. The story is a great tool for families who want to expand their holiday gift giving into doing more to help others. At the end of the book, resources are provided to generate ideas to help others during the holiday season. While the book focuses on the Christmas season, the concept could be used at any time to teach about reaching out and helping others. The illustrations are very nice and detailed. I found some of the wording to lack a sense of flow, but my children enjoyed having the story read to them repeatedly and looking at the pictures. Disclosure: I received this book free from BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program, but the opinions expressed are my own (FTC 16 CFR, Part 255).

Book Review: The Boy Who Changed the World

The Boy Who Changed the World, written by Andy Andrew, is a fascinating look at how the choices of one affect the choices of others. The book details historical events related to the lives of four boys, Norman Borlaug, Henry Wallace, George Washington Carver, and Moses Carver, who became men and changed the world. By the end of the book, the reader will see how each of these individual stories is weaved together to create one larger story. The account of their actions is shared in an easily read story form that illustrates how the choices the boys made affected not only the immediacy of their lives, but the lives of millions. The accounts involve a rescue, farming, and feeding the hungry. The illustrations, created by Philip Hurst, are fabulous and intriguing. Younger children will enjoy finding the butterfly on the pages. It is a great picture book that elementary aged children will enjoy, too—mine did. It provides a practical, life application example of the Butterfly Effect. It would make a great basis for a series of literature lessons for the classroom.

I reviewed this book at part of the Book Sneeze program and they provided a copy for me. All opinions are my own.

Book Review: The Gospel According to Lost by Chris Seay

Viewers of LOST recognize the show is full of spiritual connotations at every turn. In our search for deeper understanding, we ask ourselves questions in an attempt to discover the significance of the events. Chris Seay examines the spiritual and personal battles of Lost’s characters and how to apply the solutions of these struggles to our daily lives.

The chapters delve into the character of each of the main “Losties” and portray a clear examination of the spiritual implications of their struggles. It successfully takes the reader into a deeper examination of each characters’ journey and the choices they have made. The author provides a fascinating look at the redemption available through Christ.

As a fan of LOST, this look at the characters was interesting and enjoyable. It provided both confirmation of current thoughts and stimulation for expanding thoughts on various spiritual parallels in the show.

*Disclosure: Thomas Nelson Publishers provided a copy of this book to me as part of their BookSneeze.com program. I have given an honest review and am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Homemade Laundry Detergent--Powdered

Coupon clipping, green living, and homemade cleaners. These are all ways friends and family are trying to save money and live more frugally. In our family, we are experimenting with homemade laundry detergent. An average of 8 loads of laundry each week equates to $988/year (52 weeks) spent at the laundry mat for washing and drying. Line drying would reduce this cost to about $572/year--a $416 savings. Perhaps this summer we'll look into arranging a portable clothesline! In the meantime, as far as laundry goes, the place we have opportunity to save is with our detergent. We figure we're spending roughly $50-70 a year on detergent.

We've heard good testimonies of people saving money by making their own laundry detergent. So we thought we'd give it a try. Here are the questions we're asking:

1. Is it really worth the time and effort to make it at home verses buying cheaper brands?

2. Is there really a savings?

3. Is there a difference between the powdered and liquid recipes?

4. How effective are the detergent solutions?

One particular recipe was recommended by friends and so it's the first one we tried. This recipe is a powdered mix calling for Borax, Arm & Hammer Laundry Soda, and Fels Naptha bar soap. Borax was on sale at our local grocery for $2.99, regularly priced at $4.99. (One should note that discount stores carry the same amount of Borax in a differently shaped box for the regular price of $2.98.) The Laundry Soda at the local grocery was $2.79/box. Fels Naptha was $1.98/bar. The recipe requires two bars. I have been unable to locate the soda and bar soap at local discount stores. Our recipe called for:

1 cup Borax

1 cup Laundry Soda

2 cups Fels Naptha (2 bars)

Use 1-2 tbsp per load

Our math tells us that one batch of this powdered detergent would cost $4.58 to make. At 2 tablespoons per load it would service approximately 32 loads making the cost per load 14 cents. Our local discount stores sells powdered detergent brands that average 9-14 cents per load. Comparing powdered detergents, this recipe does not appear to be much of a savings. At 9 cents that's $37.44 for a years worth of detergent. At 14 cents a load, $58.24 a year.

Some online recipes substitute Ivory soap for the Fels Naptha. The Ivory bars are a bit smaller and cost us 37.5 cents per bar. This drops the per load price for the recipe to 5 cents a load using 2 Ivory bars and 6 cents a load using 3 Ivory bars. Using the Ivory alternative would cost $24.96 per year for detergent. That would be a $33.28 savings per year compared to the 14 cent price.

CONCLUSIONS FOR POWDERED DETERGENT:

1. Is it really worth the time and effort to make it at home verses buying cheaper brands?

It appears that with powdered detergents, the savings would be to make the recipe with the Ivory soap. Even if you had to use 3 bars to equal the 2 cups required for the recipe it's still cheaper than the Fels Naptha recipe and the more expensive store bought powders. However, looking only at cost, the cheapest store bought powder was also 6 cents per load making this comparable to the Ivory recipe. For powdered detergents, our vote on this question is NO.

2. Is there really a savings?

Only if you're switching from a name brand to the Ivory version of the recipe. The same could be accomplished by switching to a generic store bought brand.

3. Is there a difference between the powdered and liquid recipes?

At a quick glance, the liquid recipes appear to reduce the cost per load to 1-2 cents. Most of these recipes use the same ingredients as the the powder.

4. How effective are the detergent solutions?

We've been very impressed with the quality of our Fels Naptha recipe. It does just as good of job on our clothing as the store bought stuff. We're washing kid clothes and construction clothes in addition to everyday items such as linens and towels. The purfumy smell of the home made recipe is very strong in the box although not very noticeable on finished clothes. We have yet to try the Ivory version of the powder, but will be doing so as soon as we've used up the Fels Naptha version.

RV Oven Cooking

Cooking in an RV is always a challenge. A tiny oven, no air circulation, and a rack that sits almost on top of the flame. We've tried a variety of tactics to increase our cooking success both with the oven and by using other means. Here's some of our favorites:

1. Use stoneware (Pampered Chef). The stoneware absorbs the heat more evenly and helps keep the bottoms of things from burning. It can be used for biscuits, bacon, chicken, potatoes, and anything else you'd normally bake in the oven. Sometimes rotation is still needed to brown the tops of things evenly. For some foods, adding a foil lid will help with the top browning.

2. Reduce the recipe's required temperature by 25-50 degrees.

3. Experiment with preheating or not preheating. So far, breads and cookies seem to do better with preheating, but everything else does great warming up with the oven.

4. Use the microwave or stovetop instead. Using the Deep Covered Baker (from Pampered Chef) allows you to cook a huge variety of meals in the microwave that come out tasting like they're from the oven. Chicken, pork, meatloaf, enchiladas, dump cake, and so much more. On the stovetop you can make skillet pizzas and a variety of one dish skillet meals.

5. When the weather allows, use the grill. Meats, veggies, and even breads can be cooked on the grill. Find a good grilling cookbook or search online for grill recipes.

6. Begin the practice of Dutch Oven cooking. It's not as complicated as it sounds and can be quite fun and rewarding. Plus, the extra iron in the diet can be a benefit for a lot of us. A great cookbook for beginners (and not so beginners) is Loving' Dutch Oven Cooking. Available from Cabella's: http://www.cabelas.com/

In this photo:

Coffee brewing in percolator from Sportsmans Warehouse, gravy from mix made in small microwave bowl from Pampered Chef, biscuits baked on Medium Bar Pan from Pampered Chef.

Wind Advisory

Awakened at 3am with wind gusts up to 50mph. Not the most fun way to begin a day. Intermixed with the wind was the sound of little ice pebbles hitting the roof. It's kind of funny to wake up from a half-sleep dream thinking that someone is stealing your travel trailer with you inside and the slides still out! While you know this is something only for a Hollywood movie, the dizziness created by the wind tells you it must be true. You begin to argue with yourself. The sounds of traffic on the nearby road serves to convince you the motion you feel must be accurate. The windchimes from the trailer two pads down convinces you that you are passing a cow farm. You say to yourself, "Get up!! Look out the window! Someone is stealing us!" In your dream state you look out the window... for pretend... and find cars speeding by and no one seeming to give any concern to an RV being towed down the road with slides out and Christmas lights, power cords, and drainage pipes dangling behind. Fighting to pull yourself out of the dream, you finally win over your brain to consciousness. There you find yourself relieved to be sitting on the same pad of concrete from which you seemingly left. And oh so thankful it was all just the wind and your brain playing a trick.

So, in Wizard of Oz winds, is it better to leave slides in or out? Stay with the ship or abandon ship? Is it helpful to have skirting around the trailer to reduce wind-flow from underneath?

What is that stuff??

Moving a 3 bedroom home into a 33 foot travel trailer has been quite the adventure in and of itself. What do we keep? What do we get rid of? What do we store? Every day involves rethinking organization and going through the list of "When was the last time I used this? Do I really need it in here?" And everyone always wonders, some even ask, "How do you do it?"

We're learning how to navigate through a maze of Thomas train tracks, Barbie castles, and Pony stables, becoming pros at dodging and weaving through it all like a driver on a closed course. We're learning new tricks of hanging things on the walls without them crashing down in the middle of the night. Do you supposed 3M makes a hook for that?

We've almost figured out the routines of taking 4 baths in a morning, collecting laundry, washing the dishes, and making beds while still being in them. Added to our daily routine: mopping the water that accumulates throughout the day and night on the walls, the windows, and... in the closets and cabinets. We begin by climbing and perching precariously to wipe down the bunk walls. It must be a funny site to see--children and mom armed with towels reaching in positions to mock Twister just to reach the smallest droplet of water. Then to the back walls and window rescuing the books and papers from certain doom. From there, the living areas get wiped down. We pull out items in the cabinets to find we're too late. Soaked with water, we leave them out to dry in hopes they'll be alright. Then off to the master bedroom we go. We wipe down the windows, we wipe down the walls, we discover water in the clothes closets we thought would be dry. Water on top gets mopped up, but wait! What's this?? The trail goes down.... down... down.... A skirt soaked with water 4 layers deep. A suit... what's that?? Is that dust? Is that.... mold?? A trip to the dry cleaners will surely be told. So, invite us for dinner, invite us for tea... but don't expect fancy clothes from me! Off to the laundry and in storage they go! You who have tips for stopping the flow, please post them here so we'll know!