Homemade Fire Starters - the lint method

So, let me start off by stating that this was something that we learned how to do in Girl Scouts what feels like a lifetime ago.  Our troop went camping a million times and before every campout, our family always made these fire starters.  This was the best friend of our young troup.  I have been teased about using these when starting a fire by some friends of Corry but I think that they are genius. 

You don't have to be a Girl Scout to find use for these fire starters.  I have seen these on multiple "prepper" blogs as well for good items to have in your Bug Out Bag that don't take up too much space and stay good so long as you are not in extreme heat.  We always keep these in our camper for our camping trips.  My husband loves a fire even if it is 500 degrees outside and so these come in super handy when they are in the mood for a more spontaneous fire. 

You will need:

an empty egg carton
dryer lint - there had to be a good use for it, right? 
candles - use cheap ones preferably with no scent
a heat source
something to melt your candles in - we use an old aluminum can


Melt your candles in your aluminum can over your heat source until they are fully melted.  Be careful when handling this liquid.  This is your warning that melted candle wax is hot. 

                                     

While that is melting, take your dryer lint and stuff it into your empty egg cartons.  My husband puts plastic wrap down on the counter in case any wax drips out of the cartons.  You can omit, but it makes for easier clean up. 

                                    

Pour the melted candle wax over the dryer lint.

                                     

Allow the wax to cool.  This is what the finished product will look like.  From here, you cut each 'egg' out and you have 12-18 fire starters depending on the size of your egg carton.  This is an excellent way to recycle both the lint and the egg cartons. 

                                     

Depending upon how ready your wood is to burn, you can use 1-3 of these every time that you would like to start a fire.  Just light one end of the cardboard from the egg carton that doesn't have wax on it and throw into the fire. 

Enjoy!

-Sara

2014 - 52 in 52 #1 Homemade Electrolyte Drink

Our household is sick right now.  Definitely a less than ideal way to ring in the New Year.  We have that same crud that everyone has that is going around - cough, congestion, runny nose, etc.  I think every third person in the Metroplex has this junk right now. 

This morning when my son woke up, I looked at him and could instantly tell that he was considerably worse than the night before when he went to sleep.  He was coughing but you could tell that the mucus in his chest almost sounded solid.  He was acting ridiculously tired even though he just woke up and he was VERY shallow breathing.  I am not proud to admit, but I do use Dr. Google more than I would like to say to determine how serious the internet feels like mine or my children's symptoms are.  Now, of course, I know to weed out all of the 'you might have brain cancer' rulings that several websites tend to come up with.  I was reading a few things and it sounded like if we went to the doctor for a diagnosis that there wouldn't be anything that they could do for him that I couldn't do myself at home, i.e. hot shower, vaporub on the feet with socks, etc.  I am more than capable so I decided to forgo the hour long drive to the doctor, the long wait in the waiting room with other sick kids and the more than one hour long drive back home from the doctor in rush hour traffic and just handle it myself. 

After a small dehydration scare that we had this last year with Silas I am super nervous that we would run into that again, so I knew that I wanted to make sure that even though they weren't interested in eating that they kept drinking.  Normally they drink milk and watered down juice.  Separately, of course.  Of course, since they are super congested and coughing, I don't like them to drink milk.  I know that some parents aren't from that same school of thought but I don't believe that people should drink milk in that situation.  It just makes it worse.  So, because of that thought I wanted to give them something special to drink to make sure that they drink enough liquids. 

My kids love sports drinks.  Normally if we are out and about and stop for a drink we will get them a sports drink and water it down for the two of them since I don't give them sodas or anything like that.  However, I want to get away from that because I have been reading a lot of articles about ingredients that you shouldn't drink that are in sports drinks.  A few weeks ago, I saw a bunch of posts about a Homemade Electrolyte Drink and wanted to pin it because I knew that it might come in handy in a time like this in the future.  Little did I know this would happen sooner than I thought...

Now, I cut down this recipe a lot since this blogger used 12 oranges and I only had four, but I used the same proportions except I added probably double, if not triple the water.  I water down any of their drinks, except milk, so it was only natural for me to put extra water.  The kids seem to like it.  I think that it has too much salt for me but I am not the least bit dehydrated, so maybe it's fine for that time.  This is really convenient if you have a large volume of fruit laying around, but it's not often that I have at least 4 oranges laying around.  Maybe you could do this with pineapple juice, apple juice or orange juice from the bottle perhaps that you could buy a larger volume of just the juice from the store. 


Homemade Electrolyte Drink
Prep time: 10 mins

Juice of 4 oranges
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp. sugar
6 cups water

Add all ingredients into a jug and mix together until sugar and salt are dissolved.  Refrigerate and serve. 

I will definitely be making this again anytime that my kids are sick and I want them to stay hydrated. 

Enjoy!

52 in 52 #9 - Homemade Taco Seasoning

Homemade Taco Seasoning – Pinterest Project #9

 

I have had my eye on this pin to make my own taco seasoning for months.  This is one of those items that I would not have previously brought up to my husband.  My husband is very practical and one of the things that he always wants me to think about is the amount of time, effort and money that it would take to make something personally versus the amount of money that it would cost just to purchase something pre-made at the store.  Since a packet of taco seasoning is like $.80 at the store and I figured that he would be less inclined to indulge my desires to try this recipe at home.  Luckily he was feeling generous that day and he actually seemed like he was into it. 

 

The original pin that I used as inspiration is here.  I was very interested in at least trying this because I figured that it would solve at least a few of my issues with the packets of taco seasoning.  We eat tacos, salsa chicken and other recipes that require taco seasoning a lot, so we were always buying at least a few packets of that seasoning mix when we went to the store.  We buy a lot of spices for chili mix and other cooking adventures so I knew that we would have everything on hand, I was always just hesitant to try a new recipe because I didn’t want it to be horrible.  Also, with the packet of seasoning, I was always getting HORRIBLE heartburn with it no matter what we put it in.  I am not sure what is in that mix that causes that but this homemade version definitely does not do that, which is awesome. 

 

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Prep time: 10 minutes

 

2 Tbsp chili powder

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp red pepper flakes

½ tsp oregano

1 tsp paprika

1 Tbsp cumin

2 ½ tsp salt

2 tsp black pepper

 

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Mix well and store in an airtight container.  Use 2-3 Tbsp per 1lb of ground meat depending on how flavorful you like your dishes. 

 

This seasoning blend tastes amazing in any dish that you would use the store bought mix in.  There are several different things that I love about this mix:

 

·         It’s customizable – you can add more or less salt if you like.  We use smoked paprika in place of regular paprika and we also usually add more red pepper flakes since we like ours a bit more spicy than some other people.

·         You don’t get that gross, heartburn-y feeling after eating this mixture.  There are no preservatives that aren’t already in the spices themselves and there is no MSG to leave you with an upset stomach like the package mix. 

·         We buy our spices in bulk most of the time, so this recipe ends up being fairly comparable as far as price is concerned to the package.  It will cost maybe a few cents more per use but to have something that tastes much better and you can customize makes it totally worth it.  Plus, people are impressed when you say that you make your own spice blend. 

 

You can buy cheaper mixes and get a bland result but if you are looking for something to add some kick to your dishes that require a taco seasoning packet, give this one a try.  Let me know what you would add or remove to make this blend different for your family.  I am always in the market for substitutions to try.