Homemade

It's difficult to be so busy and still find time to make homemade items. However, I am determined to make sure I can find the time for a few reasons:

- it tastes better
- it makes me feel better, and more confident in myself
- it saves me money
- it saves packaging
- it impresses others (ok, this one is kind of a joke, but I added it because it proves how little people make their own stuff nowadays... really, most of the stuff that I make, anyone can do if they want to)

This article that I just came across randomly reminded me that making homemade items isn't really as common as I think it is. I forget because it has become normal for me, which I am happy about when I am given a reason to realize it.

Dinners are always homemade, that's a given. It takes time and can have the potential to push me over the edge after a long day at work, but it's cheap and saves on packaging. Luckily, I have found ways of making quick meals on those days - mostly salads and rice or pasta... you know, things that my kids will eat for dinner and still eat in their lunch the next day.

But then there are things like iced tea and coffee that have just become part of the routine in our house. I've actually stopped drinking coffee for now, but I do like some cold iced tea as the days get warmer. I use a cloth tea bag and buy the loose tea in bulk, then brew it in a 1/2 gallon mason jar so it lasts for a few days. I add honey, and sometimes freshly squeezed lemons. Put it in my insulated klean kanteen, and I have cold iced tea all day long.

Ok, this one weirds people out a bit, but it's my newest "thing". Chia seeds in homemade lemonade - 2 fresh squeezed lemons with honey and water. I put it in any clean wide mouthed mason jar that is nearby, shake it up and go. I take my cool new cuppow lid with me so that I can drink easily throughout the day. My older two kids aren't so keen on this drink, but my youngest loves it! This morning when I took my car to the mechanic, he took one look at this drink and said very seriously "you're not going to want to drink that". But I think I might have convinced his wife to try some chia seeds anyway.

I could go into so many other ways that homemade things play a role in our daily life, these are just a few things that are prevalent in my routine at the moment. But since I've had less interest in sitting inside on my computer these days, I'm going to leave it at this for now.

And of course, there is always homemade energy... let's not forget the clothes line!

That's all I've got for today... I'm off to take a hike on this gorgeous day!

Remember the straws?

Well, I've let my straw consumption slip a little. Not on purpose of course... mostly because I forget to specifically request not to have one with my drinks when I'm out.
Then there's the times that I request not to have a straw but the bartenders or waitress forgets, so they take it out and throw it away. Ugh.

But now I'm back on the anti-straw path again, so don't worry.
Reading this article helped a lot - not that I needed much to be firmer in my communication with my lovely drink servers.

And I've already posted about these cool stainless steel straws that we use at our house:

BUT, I just came across these  stainless steel SPOON straws:

At first I thought I was looking at a dental tool (yes, I just had 2 cavities filled a few days ago...), but as I looked closer, I realized that this was the perfect ice cream eating tool!

I'm totally adding this to my imaginary wish list!