Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Standing Up to Shine

Hello, family! This is Sarah, if you hadn't already noticed. When Mom added me to this blog, I think I was supposed to combine it with my little housekeeping tricks blog. But actually, today, I felt like sharing a quote that Jenna shared with me, and it has just really comforted me while I'm geeking out about life.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves: who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. Its not just in some of us; its in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." --Marianne Williamson.
There it is. :) Take it as you will, but i felt like i needed to share this; because its helped me gain back some of my own confidence.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Does anybody want to come to this with me???

I really want to go...

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Blue Ice Update

HOLY SMOKES!!!
This works like crazy!... maybe a bit too good! They kids opened up their lunch today and the lunches were frozen!!! lol

Maybe I will make my packs a little smaller!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

My next Project I found online... wish me luck!

How to Make "Blue Ice"!

You might already own some "blue ice" or some kind of ice pack/freezer pack/gel pack
to place in your cooler to keep you food cold. Now you no longer need to buy them.
You can make your own freezer pack at home!

Making “Blue Ice”

After doing many “ice cream” demos and answering lots of questions about how the salt & ice serves to freeze the ice cream, something dawned on me... I could make my own freezer packs!

Traditional ice cream makers use salt and ice in the process of freezing the ice cream. The salt lowers the freezing point of water and actually melts ice. At the same time, it draws heat away from the ice cream canister, allowing the mix inside to freeze. What dawned on me is that I could add salt to water, then freeze it, and this should be colder and last longer than the same container filled with regular water. I replaced the water with salt water in some of my containers and did a test using two separate coolers. The one with the salt ice did get colder and the cooler stayed cold longer! At one class where I was a guest chef, I had prepared some fresh coconut water and had it in a glass jar. I took the chilled jar and put it in my cooler with the salt ice jugs. At the demo, I pulled out the coconut water to find it had started to freeze! It was crystallizing in my cooler! I’ve now been using my salt water ice for many years. I have several different sized jugs.

Supplies needed:
Rock Salt (aka Ice Cream Salt) (Available at many grocery stores. Check the baking section.)
Warm to hot Water
Sealable containers, such as plastic jugs: quart, half gallon, or gallon
(You could even try Zip-Lock bags)

Instructions:
Add ¼ cup rock salt per 1-quart warm water in a jug (leave room for the ice to expand). Mix or shake until dissolved. Place in your freezer until frozen. Use as needed!

The proportions of salt to water that I use:
¼ cup per quart container
½ cup per ½ gallon container
1 cup per gallon container
(If you really feel a need to have your freezer pack to be blue (or some other color), feel free to use a food-safe coloring (in case it leaks onto your food!).

Please note: Containers occasionally leak salt powder. You may need to recharge/replace the salt water in the containers periodically.

Benefits:
Cooler stays colder and for longer
No more water from melted ice (though you can also have ice in the cooler which may be kept from melting)
Reusing jugs and bottles, etc. instead of recycling
You know exactly what’s in it, environmentally safe salt and water, no mysterious colors or chemicals
Save money by not buying pre-made cooler packs/ice packs

Monday, August 15, 2011

Will life ever slow down?

Hello out there everyone!
I feel like things are spinning so fast for me I don't have a chance to enjoy the things I love most!... one of which would be all of you!
I was hoping to add as many people as possible to contribute to this blog so we can all keep up on each other..

I'd love to have additions as much as you can
Mom