Unclogging a Toilet - Works For Me Wednesday

There are some things I wish I never learned how to do - like unclogging a toilet.

On the other hand, even though we have two bathrooms, if one of the toilets is clogged I don't necessarily want to wait until my dh gets home from work. And I'm sure my dh wouldn't want me to wait either!

If you have a clogged toilet, before you even consider calling a plumber and flushing a wad of cash down the toilet (so to speak) - consider the humble closet auger (A.K.A. THE TOILET SNAKE). In the amount of time it takes to call the plumber and explain your problem - your problem could be solved!

You can purchase a closet auger online via Amazon (if you are wise and purchase it before you actually need it) for only $13 - so you could probably find one even cheaper at your friendly neighborhood hardware store.

Here are some instructions on using THE TOILET SNAKE - very simple process. It's not fun but then neither is a pricey plumber's bill either.

Put on a pair or rubber gloves and some old clothes if you are totally grossed out by even the thought of unclogging a toilet by yourself...

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips - visit Rocks in My Dryer.

Works for Me Wednesday - New Years Family Plan Meeting

The day after New Years, we had our annual New Years Family Meeting at Starbucks*.

The night before DH and I worked up a tentative plan for 2009, and then, over coffee and cocoa and with kids, we talked about the future.

This was our second year discussing our plans for the year in a "formal" manner with the children.

Though I don't believe young children (or even older children) need to be involved in every decision - it seems that once they get to be a certain age they ought to be able to participate to some degree in the plans and discussion of a future that involves them too.

Our meeting took about 2 hours. We first went over our list from 2008 and talked about the things we did and did not do. Amazingly, there were only a few items that didn't get done (camping in a yurt, visit the Science Center, buy an LCD TV). I think going over the list from last year with the children, enabled them to see that we are serious about these plans and that things that are planned are more likely to happen. Some of the categories on our planning list that we discussed were: house improvements, homeschooling, travel, fitness, charitable giving, God & church, hospitality and specific plans for the children. The kids were encouraged to give feedback on all the topics discussed.

Even though we took time to make up our list and discuss details of each item - it is all done with the understanding that our plans may change...One thing we wanted the children to know is that "The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his path" (Prov 16:9) - meaning that these are just our plans and that God might have a different plan for us.

For more Work's For Me Wednesday Tips - head on over to Rocks in My Dryer.

Works for Me Wednesday - Preboiling Water for Pasta

I've often wondered why, when folks are going to heat up a huge pot of water for cooking, that they don't start off with hot water from the tap to cut down on the time it takes to get it all boiling.

Well recently I've been reading about how that isn't so "safe". Not sure if I really believe it or not (and I still do it sometimes).

But here's an idea for when you need a large pot of boiling water, for something like pasta, and you are not too sure when you are going to need to throw the pasta in. Scenario: Suppertime is generally 5:30 PM but at 4:55 your husband (of wife - depends on who does the cooking) calls to say he's stuck in traffic and ain't sure when he'll be home.

Pasta is not the kind of food that you can just keep warm on the back burner for any length of time - and yet you know that from cold water to boiling water it's gonna take awhile and you don't want to wait until he is in the driveway to turn the water on.

So here's something I do - I just go ahead and boil the water right away - and then turn it off and cover it. When hubby walks in the door - I turn on the stove and the water is boiling lickety-split.

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer.

Peanut Butter Pie - Work's For Me Wednesday

Here is an easy summer time dessert - Peanut Butter Pie.

I am not crazy about peanut butter at all - but this pie is delicious! It's almost like eating peanut butter ice-cream.

Peanut Butter Pie

3 oz cream cheese (softened to room temperature)
1 c powdered sugar
1/2 c super crunchy peanut butter
1/2 c milk

Whip the above ingredients together with a mixer and then fold in 8 oz thawed Cool Whip. Pour into graham cracker crust and freeze until firm. Allow to thaw for 10 minutes before serving.

I did make a couple of alterations to make it a little less calorie-filled. I used Neufchatel Cheese instead of cream cheese, as it has 1/3 less fat than cream cheese. I also used fat-free Cool Whip. Even with these modifications, this dessert is still pretty decadent - but it's not something you'd have a huge slice of anyway b/c of the sweetness.

I also added some mini peanut butter cups for a "garnish". Have you ever seen these before? I found them at Big Lots for less than $2. Sorry for the sideways photo - for some reason it will not load here the proper way! I tried it two times and it keeps turning!

One way to "portion control" the serving size is to use one of these mini pie crusts. Aren't they cute? I found them last year on sale for $1 a pack and bought about 8 packs. I had some left over pie filling when I made a regular sized pie yesterday, so I made 3 mini pies for the kids and I.

For some reason kids really love miniature things - so this is a fun dessert for them, and because it's so simple to make, they can help just about make it themselves.

Easy desserts work for me! For more Works For Me Wednesday tips, visit Rock's in My Dryer.

Works For Me Wednesday - Spare Bed

We haven't used a crib or toddler bed in many years - but we've kept the mattress around.

When company is staying overnight in my daughter's room, we can move her into her brother's room and she can sleep on the crib mattress (or he can - whichever one wants it). It's obviously smaller than a twin mattress but our kids are still small so they can still fit on it comfortably.

The mattress is lightweight and small enough to store under a bed until needed. I can't count the times that little mattress has worked as an extra bed for a child in our home.

For more Work's For Me Wednesday tips - head on over to Rocks in My Dryer.

WFMW - Rolling Pin Substitute

I have a big, wooden, clunky rolling pin. Don't know where it came from but I've had it for years.

Sometimes I don't like dealing with the hassle of cleaning a rolling pin after using it, so I came up with a solution. A tall, thin, water glass.

If I'm making biscuits I just dust the glass with a little flour and roll out the dough. Works fine for cookie dough also. Just pop it into the dishwasher when I'm finished with it. And actually if you're making cut biscuits - you can roll out the dough with the glass and also use it for cutting out the round biscuits.

The only thing a glass might not work on would be a heavy dough like bread dough.

This little trick has been working for me for many years now. For more Works For Me Wednesday tips - head on over to Rocks in My Dryer.

WFMW - Packing Checklist

My memory isn't nearly as good as it once was (or at least I once thought it was). It all changed when my first baby entered our home.

We tend to travel quite a bit. Whether its a week long trip or just a weekend out at the farm (in-law's place), there is a lot of stuff that we need to bring along. Of course now that the kids are older there is less to cart with us (no diaper bags, baby wipes, diapers, bottles, etc) - but still too much for me to remember without my handy dandy packing checklist.

I typed up a word document with 5 or 6 columns - 1 column per family member, 1 extra column for things not pertaining to a specific person and one for things to remember to do before we go out the door.

Under each person's name is a list of what I need to pack for that person (ie. underwear, socks, pjs, sleeping toy, barrettes, hairbrush, day clothes, Sunday clothes, shampoo etc).

Under the "Remember" column - water plants, turns off computers/printer, turn off dehumidifier, heat off (programmable thermostat now - so that just needs to be reprogrammed), take out trash etc.

Under the general column - snacks, cell phone, hand wipes, sun screen, medicine etc.

The document is easy to change, so before printing it out I just add/delete items that might apply to our current trip - like rubber boots for the farm this weekend...

When I'm ready to pack, I print off the checklist and then cross off the items as they are added to the suitcases. Dd likes to help with the packing so sometimes I'll print out her section separately and let her help out (though I check her stuff to make sure she hasn't forgotten something).

This doesn't guarantee that I won't forget something - but it sure cuts down on missing things.

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer.

WFMW - Vacation Travel Planning

Since vacation season will be upon us soon, I thought for "Works For Me Wednesday" I'd write about what "works for me" in trying to make our travel go as smoothly as possible.

All of our family travel is via car and we make all our travel arrangements ourself.

Our trips are usually about 7-10 days in duration and we like to make the most of our vacation time. Something that has helped us to keep on track and have all our important information in one place, is a travel binder.

Inside the binder are maps/driving directions, hotel reservations, restaurant recommendations, planned activities, emergency information etc.

The binder is divided into sections for each day of our trip - even if the day is only spent driving.

The first sheet for each day contains a summary of that day - with information like below:

Date: Saturday (28th) Driving Day

Depart: 5 am
Arrival: Tucumcari 8 pm
Drive: _____ miles (____ hrs)

Motel: Name, Exit Number, Price

Meals:
Breakfast – in car
Lunch – packed lunch
Supper – eat out

Activities: Driving (bulk of day)
Eat supper
Sight seeing

Possible restaurants - addresses and brief summary if necessary.

Comments: Here we can either make notes about the hotel (good/bad), the restaurant and the activities we participated in.

2nd Page: Driving directions and maps for that day

3rd Page: Hotel reservation confirmation sheet

4th Page: Detailed information on planned and alternate activities (location of activity, hours open, fees)

On our return home we can file away these pages for future reference and to assist in any written documents for "Scrapbooking" and family journaling.

Visit "Rocks in My Dryer" for more Works For Me Wednesday Tips.

WFMW Backwards Edition - Book Recommendations for Young Boys

My Works for Me Wednesday - Backwards Edition question is what are some good books for young boys. My son is almost 6.

We just finished all our Dan Frontier books (about frontiersman, Indians, soldiers etc) - that is the kind of stuff my son loves.

So I'm looking for another very boyish series of books that he will want to keep reading. They need to be simple enough for him to read on his own - but more than just a couple of sentences on each page.

Any ideas??

For more WFMW - Backwards Edition questions, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

Works For Me Wednesday - Journal Keeping

Before I got married I filled a few journals. Not necessarily writing every day - but enough to fill the need.

After I got married - the journaling pretty much stopped (ummm maybe b/c I now had a constant companion to relate all my stuff to - poor guy!).

A way that works for me now to keep a journal, that I don't have to write daily or even weekly, is to go to my "sent emails". I look for emails that I have primarily sent to my family (my family lives 1000 miles away and my dh's family lives 3 hrs away - so a lot of our communication is via email).

I quickly sift through the emails looking for journal material...special things we did or a special thing one of the kids did, maybe a time of illness someone had etc. I cut and then paste the writing into a word document - along with the date.

I do this a few times a year maybe - whenever I think about it and have the time. You can either take an afternoon to do it or do it in bits and pieces.

When the kids were really small I'd usually be writing to grandma or to another family member to let them know all the cute/fun/bad things the kids were up to. This helped too, to fill in the baby book gaps - you know the deal - where the first kid has a full baby book and the other children have blank pages or empty fill in the blanks. I was able to look back in the emails and gather some of the missing information.

Of course this all takes time - and maybe it would be easier to do your journal writing each day - but I know I'd never get around to keeping a written journal like I did before marriage. And the way I do it - I'm kind of killing two birds with one stone.

The journal isn't so much for me to remember all these things - though I imagine some day I'll be old and gray (or should I say old and gray-er) and will get a kick out of reading the accounts of our youth. The journal is for our children.

My dd (now only 8) especially has enjoyed looking back and reading some of the journal entries that pertain to all the stuff she did when she was really little - and from time to time she'll mention to me or to her brother about the funny time mom was talking on the telephone outside and how she snuck up to mom and dumped a pail of sand on her head and that it was the same day that she bit her baby brother.

For more Works For Me Wednesday tips - head on over to Rocks in My Dryer.

Keeping Track of Medical Information - Works for me Wednesday

Rock's in My Dryer is hosting the last Works for me Wednesday of the year.

This is not only the "holiday season" but also "flu season". As much as we'd like to avoid making a trip to see the doctor this year, it's not always possible.

Here is a quick, easy way to keep track of your family's medical information... past illnesses, medical treatments, surgical procedures and the like.

Remembering previous illnesses and visits to the doctor, especially in a family where there are more than just you – is difficult. Before I had children I prided myself on my good memory – no need of a calendar for me. After children – I could not even remember what I was looking for in the fridge, let alone the date on a calendar.

My dh’s medical insurance at work has changed a few times and we always have to fill out forms detailing previous illnesses or medical treatments. I wasted a lot of time trying to remember as best as I could, as well as hunting through a messy file filled with various medical papers.

Then we came up with the idea of a medical log. We would record all the medical treatments as well as visits to the doctor for checkups and record when someone was sick, even if they did not visit the doctor.

When you go to the doctor because of a persistent problem with headaches, it’s good to know if the headaches began in January of 2007 or in the fall of 2006. Your daughter’s ankle is bothering her again - was her surgery in 2004 or 2005? Are your allergies worse in the summer or fall? Why is it that your son has been sick with a sore throat on and off for the past 3 months. Doctors like to know all these facts – and now you can have them at your fingertips.

I made up a simple table in a word document (you can use a spreadsheet program if that is easier for you).

There are columns for: dates of illness or treatment, family member, condition/diagnosis, treatment/meds, physician’s name and prognosis.

At least in our case, when completing paperwork for a new insurance plan – they wanted information for the last 5 years…so that is how far back we go. I don’t suggest you record every illness for every family member for the past 5 years – but all the medical procedures and major illnesses, would be helpful.

I’ve included a copy of our form – though with fictitious names and ailments for the most part.

Works For Me Wednesday - What Do I Fix Edition

Rock's in My Dryer is featuring a "What Do I Fix Edition" of "Works For Me Wednesday". It's almost supper time and you need to fix something quick and with ingredients on hand (which does not include bread - so no sandwiches).

I think most of my daily supper meals could fit into the above. I do usually have a large store of canned goods on hand - and my freezer does usually contain some form of leftovers or browned ground beef/cooked chicken that I can add to anything at the last minute.

One fast great recipe I came across a couple of years ago is Simple, Spicy Black Bean Soup. As a bonus, it is healthy and almost fat-free.

Simple Spicy Black Bean Soup

2 15 1/2-ounce cans black beans (rinsed)
1 c salsa (whatever kind you have on hand - I like Aldi's Mexican salsa)
2 c canned chicken broth
salt/pepper if needed

Cook on medium heat for about 15 min and you are done!

Hopefully you have some crackers & cheese that you could have as a side dish. Or just slice up some fresh fruit.