A Little About Azure

Azure Standard runs like a co-op. They deliver their goods once a month to many delivery drop locations, or drop site, throughout the United States. When you make an order you are committing to meet the semi truck at the delivery drop location and pick up your order straight off the delivery truck at a specified time on the designated date. 

Azure Standard is known for and believes in the benefit of organic foods. Although they do have some non organic products they are very diligent to source good quality foods. They are also known for the ability to order bulk quantities, they do also offer smaller or smaller quantities for their products. Flour for example, their organic all purpose flour has size options of 30oz, 5lbs, 10lbs and 25lbs. I buy 25 lbs at a time.

Azure Standard is a family and community motivated company. They strive to provide affordable and healthy food to their customers. From the way they grow their organic foods to the way the deliver, their motivation is for the benefit of the family and community.

A Little About Costco

Costco is a popular store that is known to have everything you will need. From organic groceries to swimming pools and insurance. They carry clothing and dog food, household appliances, pharmacy… Its designed to be a one stop shop. This is great! Some of their items are even in ‘bulk’ form, meaning you are getting more for your money. The prices at Costco are in someways are simply unbeatable. Especially for organic foods.

They have high quality prepared foods available such as their rotisserie chicken, big bags of chips, Sanders dark chocolate sea salt caramels, granola bars, the whole bakery section! They have a ton of organic or high quality snack foods. Good meats, bulk toiletries, and other household supplies.  

The Main Differences Between Costco and Azure Standard

Ingredients or Prepared Foods

Costco and Azure both have a great selection of healthy options but have one big difference in the items they carry. Costco leans towards more prepared food items while still having a good base for ingredients while Azure leans towards ingredients at its simplistic form before prepared foods. 

For example, Azure and Costco both sell organic flour. But Azure also sell wheat berries so you can make your own flour and Costco has a whole bakery where you can buy prepared breads, bagels, cakes, cookies, pies, muffins and more. Costco does not sell wheat berries, Azure has no bakery. (They do sell breads, bagels and cookies but nothing like Costco’s awesome bakery.)

Here is a list of a few things Azure sell that Costco does not and some items that Costco sells and Azure wont have.

Azure Standard has, but Costco does not.

• Dry Beans (even canned beans are hard to find at Costco)
• Organic Wheat Berries
• Raw Honey
• More Spices and Herb Options
• Raw Cheese
• Essential Oils
• Apple Cider Vinegar (Costco has some online only)
• Elderberry Syrup/juice/whole
• Organic Chocolate Chips
• Tallow
• Tons of delicious snacks without artificial flavoring and colors or chemical preservatives.

Costco has, but Azure does not.

• Muffins, Cakes, Pies other Bakery Items
• Pork
• Alcohol
• Shell fish
• Flowers
• Rotisserie Chicken
• More meat option in general
• Appliances and Electronics
• Tons of delicious snacks with artificial flavoring and colors or chemical preservatives.

There is so much more to both Costco and Azure than this simple list. But what I desire you to see is the different direction both of these store take in what they sell.

The quality and standard

Both Costco and Azure have great quality standards but… Azure Standards product standards are like not one else’s. Costco does a great job and with quality products but Azure goes above and beyond. Azure products, including all products they sell have to meet the very high standards of Azure.

To Learn more about the 50+ ingredients Azure Standard will not sell you that is often found in our local grocery stores, including Costco. “Azure Product Standards”

The standard the Azure Standard holds for the products they produces and sell may not be your own standard. To be honest, my standards are lower then Azures, but my standards are also higher then Costco a lot of the time. Azure’s product quality standards are high and you should never feel ashamed if your personal health convictions are not as the same as someone else’s. But we can still be thankful that someone else cares enough to offer me their very best.

Costco and Azure Standard Price Comparison

Where to buy bulk foods

So now, to determine whether to buy from Costco or Azure Standard we looked at the difference in what they sell, their quality standard, and the price difference. 

If you want already prepared foods and snacks in bulk then shop at Costco. If you like shopping in one spot for all your needs. Shop at Costco.

If you want high quality ingredients in bulk shop at Azure Standard. Also, if you don’t want to check labels and ingredients list, shop Azure Standard.

If you are like me you will probably shop at both! I order from Azure Standard monthly. I get oatmeal, sugar, wheat berries, raisins, beans, rice, spices, fresh/frozen fruit and so much more.
At Costco I shop for meats, dairy, nuts, toiletries, and a few treats here and there. Because I live in the central valley of California I get a lot of our fresh produce from a lady who has a delivery service that sources fresh produce form many local farmers in the area. If I didn’t have her I would shop produce mainly at Costco.

Let me know in the comments where you shop and if there is any other stores you would want me to compare.

The post Costco Or Azure Standard? Where To Buy Bulk Foods appeared first on Embracing The Home.

So naturally we thing I need to find a different natural, chemical free cleaner for all these different areas in our home. That is the wrong way to look at cleaning. Instead of thinking of the product you may need think of the ingredients you need. 

There are 5-6 simple ingredients we need to cover all our own homemade cleaning products.

• Vinegar
• Baking Soda
• Castile Soap
• Essential Oils
• Rubbing Alcohol (not actually natural but a much safer alternative for disinfecting cleaners)
• Olive Oil (for wood)

With these 6 ingredients you can mix and match to make just about any cleaning product you want.

The Ingredients for Natural Cleaning Products

When cleaning with natural cleaners we simply need to understand the ingredients of natural cleaning. Understanding how each ingredient works give you the knowledge you need to create the best cleaning products for your needs.

Vinegar

Vinegar is an acidic cleaner. The acid in the vinegar brakes down mineral deposits, cutting through grease and grime, stains, loosening dirt and calcium build up. Vinegar also has antimicrobial properties helping to disinfect and stop bacterial growth. 

Vinegar is great for bathroom, kitchens, appliances, glass, mirrors, metal, tile, vinyl, fabrics… Most anything except materials that brake down easy by acid. 

Now this is where I’m supposed to say, you can use on tile but you can’t use on tile because you shouldn’t use on grout, or the vinegar will eat away at the finish of the tile or wood so you should use on that either. Don’t use vinegar on TV, computers or phones it will eat away at the anti-glare film. Although these things are true, they will not ruin your table, or cabinets, doors, chairs, floors, tile by a little cleaning with a vinegar based cleaner. Extensive cleaning with harsh vinegar I will not advise. I would also advise to clean with a soap based cleaner for these items for better results. 

Marble and other natural stone carter-tops are more porous surfaces and should not be cleaned with acid cleaners. And that is okay, vinegar, although the most popular is not the only way to clean. 

Use Cleaning Vinegar, Distilled Vinegar or White Vinegar for cleaning. Do not use Apple Cider Vinegar, white wine vinegar or other cooking vinegar for cleaning. 

*Lemon juice is a citric acid and can also be used for cleaning in replacement or along side white vinegar.

Baking Soda

Baking soda is a alkaline cleaner. We all know that when you mix this alkaline with our acid vinegar we get a carbon dioxide gas (or bubble). When cleaning we tend to not want to mix these two because they neutralize each other. 

We clean with baking soda when we want to scrub something. Baking soda has a fine abrasive texture making it perfect to use when we need to scrub out a deep stain or tough build up. it also has deodorizing properties as well as whitening properties. Its a great ingredient for diy cleaners for cleaning clothes and stains, grout and toilet bowls and so much more.

Castile Soap

Castile Soap is a vegetable based soap. It has no synthetics, its no toxic ingredients, and hypoallergenic. Its safe for your skin and hair as well as your clothes, furniture, kitchen, bathroom you name it. Except plants, apparently. Don’t clean your plants with it. 

Castile soap is the base that you can use for all your soap needs. Dish soap, hand soap, shampoo, laundry detergent and even all purpose cleaners.

Essential Oils

Essential oils have many benefits to them in our homemade cleaning recipes. Many of them have antibacterial properties making them perfect for disinfecting and stopping the bacterial growth. There scent is probably the most enjoyable benefit that essential oils have. Smell is a huge indication of cleanliness and makes our house more enjoyable and inevitable. 

The biggest benefit I have found with essential oils not the smell or the antibacterial properties but the benefits to my own immune system these oils give. Cleaning with a few drops of essential oils means that all around my house are beneficial, immune boasting properties all around me. Other chemical based cleaners are harmful to my healthy while cleaning with essential oils builds up my health. 

Read in more detail what essential oils are best for cleaning on my post about cleaning with essential oils.

Rubbing Alcohol

Rubbing Alcohol is not technically natural, it is a synthetic product. Although alcohol is the natural occurrence of certain fermenting sugars, Rubbing Alcohol is not made the same way. It is man made through a chemical process involving petroleum derivatives. In order to find out more on how its made visit BiologyInsights.com. Rubbing Alcohol is extremely toxic to drink, but not to touch. With long exposure it can cause skin dryness and irritation.

Although Rubbing Alcohol is not as safe or natural as vinegar but is still considered a safe cleaning product. Rubbing Alcohol is not as toxic or cancer causing as the harsh chemicals in other cleaning product ingredient are. Just to name a few… Phthalates are known to cause hormonal issues such as low sperm count, birth defects and reproductive cancer. Sodium Hydroxide is really bad for your skin and can causes respiratory damage. Formaldehyde can cause asthma or throat and nasal cancer. You can find out more about these and other cleaning products ingredients you may want to avoid at thegoodnesswell.com.

If you don’t feel comfortable using rubbing alcohol as a cleaning product there’s good news! You don’t have too! You can also use Vodka. Or vinegar, it can stand on its own or can be pared with antibacterial essential oils or lemon oils from lemon rinds. To learn more about making lemon vinegar from your lemon rinds check out my post on Lemon Vinegar Cleaner.

Olive Oil

Olive oil may seem like a strange ingredient to use for cleaning, and it is. There are two main reasons we use olive oil to clean with. One is to get gunk or sticky residue off of things. You can use olive oil to moisten and soften something that is hard and stuck on to the item you are cleaning. 

The other ways to use olive oil is as a polisher. Polishing is not actually considered cleaning but it does help keep our homes clean when surfaces have a little polish on them. The polish will keep grime and dust from sticking and building up on certain surfaces. 

Surfaces to use olive oil on when polishing would be stainless still, wood, cast iron and leather.

Recipes for Natural Cleaning Products

I have two bottles of cleaners made up at all time for my daily cleaning. An All Purpose Cleaner and a Bathroom/Kitchen Cleaner. I also have these six ingredients always stocked in my house for when I need to make another cleaner for something specific. Here are all your will need diy cleaning recipes.

All Purpose Cleaner Recipe (soap)

Mix together in a glass spray bottle about 2 tablespoon soap to 2 cups of water in a spray bottle. Add about 8-15 drops of your favorite essential oil. My preference is Thieves or On-Guard for my all purpose regular cleaner.

Bathroom/Kitchen/Window Disinfectant (vinegar and alcohol)

This is my favorite bathroom cleaner. In my glass spray bottles I mix 1 part vinegar, 1 part rubbing alcohol and 1 part water. Add 8-15 drops of you preferred essential oil (Tea Tree Oil/Melaleuca and Thieves/On Guard are great choices). I use this cleaner for every part of the bathroom, including the mirror.

Other cleaning products you can make with these ingredients

I keep these 6 ingredients stocked in my house so I can make any needed cleaner at any given time. When needed you can also make these cleaner with our 6 natural ingredients for cleaning.

• Laundry Detergent – 1 cups Baking Soda, 1 cup Washing Soda (learn how to make from baking soda) 1 bar of grated Castile Soap (You can get unscented or a scented soap, I like lavender).
• Stain Remover Baking soda or washing soda, hydrogen peroxide, Castile soap. 
• Dish Soap – 16 oz glass dispenser, 1/2 cup Castile soap, 1 1/2 cups water, 10-20 lemon/orange/grapefruit or any citrus essential oil.   
• Hand Soap – 1 cup Castile soap, 3 cups water, 10-20 drops essential oils, 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• Disinfectant Spray – 1 part water, 1 part rubbing alcohol, for strong disinfectant 
• Disinfectant Wipes – Check out Laura’s recipes
• Over Cleaner – Mix together baking soda and water to make a paste. Wipe the oven down, let it sit for 30 minutes or overnight. Wipe down with a rag and spray some vinegar to get the rest. 
• Grout Cleaner –  Mix together baking soda and water to make a paste. Use a toothbrush to clean the grout with the paste. Wipe down with damp rag. 
• Drain Cleaner – Poor hot water down the drain. Then poor 1/2 – 1 cup baking soda down the drain add 1/2 cup vinegar. Place a rag over the drain and let fizz for 20 minutes. Rinse again with more hot water. 
• Toilet Bowl Cleaner (comet replacement) – Baking soda or washing soda
• Dust Cleaner (Pledge Replacement) – 2 cups water, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup Castile soap, 10-20 drops essential oils.
• Fabric (couches, pillows, beds, curtains, rugs) Deodorant (febreze Replacement) – 1 cup vinegar, 2 cups water, 20-30 drops essential oils
• Mirror, Glass and Window Cleaners (Windex replacement) – 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol, 1 cup vinegar, 2 cups water.  
• Hardwood floor cleaner –  2 cups water, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup Castile soap, 10-20 drops essential oils.
• Fabric Softener – Vinegar

The post All the DIY Natural Cleaning Products Recipes You will Need appeared first on Embracing The Home.

Vinegar, A natural Cleaner

Vinegar is natural products that you can literally consume. Not just edible but good for you! Although, I do not recommend drinking this cleaner, that would be gross. There are also different types of vinegar, and some are better to consume with and other better to clean with… Cleaning vinegar is the best choice for cleaning due to it being high in acetic acid, white vinegar is second best. I would not use apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar to clean with. Those vinegar’s are best cooking with.

Is Cleaning with Alcohol Natural?

Rubbing Alcohol (or isopropyl alcohol) is a super powerful disinfectant yet it is a synthetic product. Although alcohol is the natural occurrence of certain fermenting sugars, Rubbing Alcohol is not made the same way. It is man made through a chemical process involving petroleum derivatives. In order to find out more on how its made visit BiologyInsights.com. Rubbing Alcohol is extremely toxic to drink, but not to touch. With long exposure it can cause skin dryness and irritation.

Although Rubbing Alcohol is not as safe or natural as vinegar it is still considered a safe cleaning product. Rubbing Alcohol is not as toxic or cancer causing as other commercial cleaners and household cleaners ingredient are. Just to name a few… Phthalates are known to cause hormonal issues such as low sperm count, birth defects and reproductive cancer. Sodium Hydroxide is really bad for your skin and can causes respiratory damage. Formaldehyde can cause asthma or throat and nasal cancer. The toxic elements of these cleaners are major concerns for me. You can find out more about these and other cleaning products ingredients you may want to avoid at thegoodnesswell.com. 

If you don’t feel comfortable using rubbing alcohol in your natural DIY cleaners there’s good news! You don’t have too! Vinegar can stand on its own or can be pared with antibacterial essential oils or lemon oils from lemon rinds. To learn more about making lemon vinegar from your lemon rinds check out my post on Lemon Vinegar Cleaner.

How to make All purpose cleaner with Vinegar and rubbing alcohol

Its really very simple. In order to make your cleaner mix together 2 part water, 1 part rubbing alcohol 1 part vinegar into a glass spray bottle. That’s it!  

This ratio is even adjustable. I often use a 1:1:1 ration when making my cleaner, especially when cleaning the bathrooms and both version work great. Now, be aware that not enough vinegar or rubbing alcohol wont keep things as clean and too much can cause some damage to paint, wood and sometimes plastics.

add essential oils

If you want to make a great smelling and extra cleaning strength then add a few drops of essential oil to your cleaner. Add 15-25 drops of your preferred essential oil to your 16 oz glass spray bottle. For more effective recipes you can read more about using essential oils in your cleaning products here. Some great essential oils to use for cleaning are Tea Tree Oil, Lemon, Orange, Eucalyptus, Thieves, On-Guard and so many more. My favorite blends are Thieves and Tea Tree Oil.

add citrus rinds

I you don’t have essential oil you can also make your own citrus cleaner by soaking lemon, orange, lime or grapefruit rinds in a jar full of vinegar for 2 weeks or adding 1/2 a cup of lemon juice. The vinegar will start to brake down and mix with the de-greasing oils and antibacterial properties of the citrus making a powerful cleaner. Then use that vinegar in your cleaning solution. To read more details on making your own citrus vinegar cleaning here.

Are Homemade cleaning products cheaper?

Lets do some math…
-1/4 gallon, Lysol All-Purpose Cleaner, Sanitizing and Disinfecting Spray, Lemon Breeze Scent, 32oz – $3.97, $1.98 per 16 oz bottle.
-DoTERRA’s Multi-Purpose On Guard Cleaner Concentrate 12 oz, makes about 9, 16 oz spray bottles, $24 $2.67 per 16 oz bottle
-1.5 gallons, Homemade Vinegar All-Purpose Cleaner – Cleaning Vinegar 64oz, $2.62 + Rubbing Alcohol 91%, 32oz, $3.98 (x2) + On Guard Essential Oils, DoTERRA, 15ml $52OR Revive 30ml $28. TOTAL (with revive) is $38.58 at check out. 64oz of vinegar, 64oz of rubbing alcohol, 64oz water makes 12, 16oz spray bottles. When using 15 drops of oil per 16 oz spray bottle the total comes to about $1.78 per 16 oz bottle.

30ml of essential oil is approximately 500 drops. That is about 6 cents per drop. 15 drops per 16 oz spray bottle comes to 90 cents per bottle.

So yeah, this homemade cleaner is pretty cheap compared to most store-bought cleaners.

Vinegar and rubbing alcohol Cleaner is a Antibacterial Disinfectant

Vinegar is very strong acid creating a hostile environment for bacteria making them inactive but not always killing the germs… There’s a lot of different thoughts on this. We are all taught and know that there are good germ and bad germs but its not always easy to know when to kill germs and when to embrace them. 

If just using vinegar as a cleaner then clean is what you get. If you want to kill germs and disinfect you will need to add the rubbing alcohol. It is the the alcohol that disinfects. Disinfectants kills all germs both good and bad. A good cleaner remove dirt, debris, grime and germs on the surface level, making most germs inactive but does not kill them. Cleaners make it so germs don’t grow. Disinfectants will make them go away completely. So for best results in making a disinfectant with safe ingredients is to add a rubbing alcohol to your own cleaners.

FAQ

Can I use any vinegar to clean with?

There are lots of different types of vinegar and not all of them are ideal for cleaning. However, cleaning Vinegar, or distilled white vinegar are you two best vinegar for cleaning. I personally wouldn’t use Apple Cider Vinegar, or Rice Vinegar, or any other cooking vinegar for cleaning with.

What is NOT safe to clean with vinegar?

Vinegar is an all purpose spray cleaner but there are a few things to avoid cleaning with vinegar. 

• Natural Stone. The acid in the vinegar can cause pitting in natural stones like Marble or Granite. 
• Grout. Vinegar can cause deterioration of grout. 
• Stainless Steal. Again, the vinegar can cause pitting the the steal. 
• Waxed or unfinished wood should not have full strength vinegar but diluted is fine. The vinegar can cause discoloration if full strength. 
• Cast Iron. Again, the vinegar can cause pitting.  
• TV’s, Computers or other screen as the vinegar will take off the anti glare coating. 
• Rubber. Rubber with lots of exposure to vinegar will start to deteriorate. A little here and there wont hurt it too badly. 
• Hardwood Floors. Vinegar can dissolve the finish on the hardwood. For hardwood I suggest Murphy’s Oil Soup

What is safe to clean with vinegar?

• Glass, windows and mirrors. Mix a little rubbing alcohol for with the vinegar and you will get a quick dry, streak free cleaning. Toilet. For a deep clean you can put 2 cup of vinegar in your toilet and let sit for 2-3 hours. Clean with a toilet brush to help remove/prevent hard water lines and odor. Dust a bit of baking soda on the floor around the toilet and let sit for 20 minutes or longer spray with your vinegar cleaner let it bubble and do its work then wipe up.
• Bath/Showers. Your vinegar helps prevent and remove watermarks as well as preventing mildew. Use your cleaner for weekly wiping down of your shower and bathtubs. For deeper cleaning use undiluted vinegar. 
• Faucets. If you have hard water cleaning your faucets with vinegar is almost a must. The hard water build up can ruin your new faucets and daily or weekly cleaning with vinegar can prevent hard water build up to keep your faucets clean.
• Dirty Floors. Except hardwood floors or waxed floors. All other floors are safe for cleaning with vinegar.
• Dishwasher. Again, keep your dishwasher safe from hard water build up and crud with vinegar. 
• Appliances.
• Microwave, stove tops, oven, refrigerator etc, vinegar is a great cleaner for these appliances. I also have such a peace of mind cleaning around my food with a safe, natural cleaner. 
• Laundry. A miraculous deodorizer for your clothes, sheets, rags is adding vinegar to washing your laundry. Just be sure to not mix bleach and vinegar in the same load. 
• Coffeemakers. Run equal parts of vinegar and water through your coffee maker for a good cleaning. 
• Wood. If you want to clean natural wood with vinegar add an equal part of olive oil to your vinegar.
• Carpets and Upholstery. Spot clean you carpets with with vinegar. The profession carpet cleaner we use at our church told me to use vinegar for coffee spill and hot water and dish soup for sugar based spills (soda, lemonade).

What is NOT safe to clean with rubbing alcohol?

Here are a few things to look out for when cleaning with rubbing alcohol.

• Natural Stone. The alcohol can remove protective laying making it more porous and prone to stains and scratches.
• Painted or Finished Wood. A diluted cleaner should not do much or any real damage to the finish or paint but straight alcohol will strip some of the finish or paint off of your wood.
• Leather. Dries out, causing cracks and discoloration.
• Delicate Fabrics. Shrinks or discolors materials
• Rubber. Rubber with lots of exposure to rubbing alcohol will start to deteriorate. A little here and there wont hurt it too badly.
• Hardwood Floors. Vinegar can dissolve the finish on the hardwood. For hardwood I suggest Murphy’s Oil Soup
• Acrylic Plastics. Causes cloudiness and weakens material.

What is safe to clean with alcohol?

• Counter tops
• Stainless Steel Carpets and Upholstery. Make your own homemade carpet cleaner with Karries DIY carpet cleaning solution here. 
• Appliances.Microwave, stove tops, oven, refrigerator etc
• Glass, windows and mirrors. Rubbing alcohol is has a quick evaporation time, when mixed with the vinegar and you will get a quick drying, streak free, glass cleaner.
• Toilet, Bath/Showers.
• Faucets.
• Sticker Residue.
• Electronics. Rubbing alcohol is great for electronics and your computer keyboard because it drys quickly without leaving any residue. Its not great for electronics because it can damage the anti glare protection.

More of my favorite natural cleaning Formulas 

In my option the best cleaner out there is good old fashioned elbow grease and a clean cloth or paper towel with warm water. I’m never disappointed when I simple go around the house with a clean damp cloth, maybe with a drop or two of dish soup and go around my house cleaning. But obviously, I’ll probably do an even better job would if I take an all purpose cleaner around with me. 

Use these other natural all purpose cleaners, avoiding harsh chemicals to get a professional cleaner level cleaning in your home.

• Essential Oil Cleaners
• Castile Soup Cleaners
• Hydrogen Peroxide
• Lemon Vinegar Cleaner

The post Cleaning with Vinegar and Rubbing Alcohol appeared first on Embracing The Home.

Are Chemical Cleaners Bad?

YES!!! VERY BAD! …okay, maybe I’m overreacting… Let me just say right now, I have Bleach and Comet (Natural version here) and even Windex in my house right now that I use. Now, you are not going to keel over and die from them as your spray your window to clean it. With the toxic chemicals in our store-bought cleaners the danger is in long time exposure. 

Lets use bleach for example. Breathing in bleach fumes irritates your lungs. Sometimes while cleaning with bleach you might cough a little, feel a burning in your noes or throat from just the smell of bleach… that is the chemicals burning your lungs. The feeling might goes away with a drink of water or some fresh air but that doesn’t mean there’s no damage. Healing is needed. Breathing in bleach everyday keeps the healing from happening. The more chemical burn your experience the longer its going to take to heal. Then you get a cold… and your lungs struggle. The coughing hurts, it turns in to bronchitis and then it goes crazy and you have lung cancer. It’s the constant damage, without healing that causing tissue and cell damage. To learn more read “Is Breathing in Bleach Bad?“

Yes, I keep these bad cancer causing chemical cleaners in my house. No, I do not use them daily, or even weekly. My daily and weekly cleaning needs are met with all natural cleaning products.

Does Cleaning with essential oils really work?

YES!

In all honesty I wouldn’t clean with only essential oils. I will always pair them with vinegar, soap or rubbing alcohol. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not using essential oils just for the fragrance and fresh scent but as the cleaning agent in the cleaner. Both the essential oil and the vinegar or soap work to clean. Essential oils have cleaning, cleansing, antibacterial properties that really do work. For best all purpose cleaning in your home it will be best to combine them with another natural cleaning agent.

What Essential Oils can I use to Clean with?

There are so many great essential oils that you can use in your daily cleaning routine. The oils you want to use are oils that have antibacterial properties. Antibacterial essential oils stop the growth of bacteria. Keeping you home clean from bacterial growth without killing both the good and bad bacteria completely. Cleaning with essential oils benefits our immune system rather than harming it like the commercial cleaners full of toxic fumes do.

Essential Oils for Cleaning

• Eucalyptus Oil has antibacterial properties 
• Peppermint Oil contains anti fungal and antibacterial properties 
• Lavender Oil has powerful antimicrobial properties 
• Cloves Oil contains both anti fungal and antibacterial properties, a great at disinfecting and cleaning mold.
• Lemongrass Oil has both anti fungal and antibacterial properties, brakes down grease and grime. 
• Cinnamon Oil is one of the most powerful antibacterials and anti fungal of the essential oils. 
• Tea tree Oil (Melaleuca) has both anti fungal and antibacterial properties.
• Bergamot Oil is another antibacterial with a large amount of limonene, which is also found in citrus oils. 
• Oregano Oil has strong antibacterial properties  
• Thyme Oil has antiseptic properties 
• Basil Oil has antimicrobial properties and repels insects 
• Rosemary Oil has antibacterial and antiseptic properties
• Geranium Oil helps remove dirt and grime
• Wild Orange Oil cuts through grease and dirt and is antibacterial
• Lemon Oil antibacterial properties
• Grapefruit Oil natural de-greaser and has antimicrobial properties 
• Lime Oil high in limonene helping disinfect bacteria

Mix and Match

Some of these essential oils are stronger cleaners than other or have different cleaning abilities. Some being better de-greasers, some being better for molds and fungal. To make a all-purpose cleaner you can combine oils to create your own cleaners that fits your needs. 

Some essential oil companies have blends already that are specially for cleaning. Young living has blends like ‘Thieves’ and ‘Purification’. DoTerra has ‘On Guard’ and ‘Purify’. Revive has ‘Clean’, ‘Purify’ and ‘Immunity Boost’. You can make things simple and buy one of these blends or you can create your own household cleaning products.

How To Make An Essential Oil Cleaner

Here are 3 simple recipes for natural cleaners using essential oils   

1. Mix together 2 part water, 1 part rubbing alcohol 1 part cleaning vinegar or white vinegar into a reusable glass spray bottle. Add 15-25 drops of your preferred essential oil to your glass bottle. 
2. Mix together 3 parts water with 1 part Castile soap and add 15-25 drops of your preferred essential oil to your glass spray bottle. 
3. Mix together 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar and add 15-25 drops of your preferred essential oil to your 12 -16 oz glass spray bottle.

For more all purpose cleaner recipes check out my post just on DIY Natural Cleaner Recipes for different types of cleaners using essential oil, baking soda, Castile soaps, rubbing alcohol, vinegar and olive oil.

Is Homemade all-purpose cleaners cheaper?

Lets do some math…
-1/4 gallon, Lysol All-Purpose Cleaner, Sanitizing and Disinfecting Spray, Lemon Breeze Scent, 32oz – $3.97, $1.98 per 16 oz bottle.
-DoTERRA’s Multi-Purpose On Guard Cleaner Concentrate 12 oz, makes about 9, 16 oz spray bottles, $24 $2.67 per 16 oz bottle
-1.5 gallons, Homemade Vinegar All-Purpose Cleaner – Cleaning Vinegar 64oz, $2.62 + Rubbing Alcohol 91%, 32oz, $3.98 (x2) + On Guard Essential Oils, DoTERRA, 15ml $52OR Revive 30ml $28. TOTAL (with revive) is $38.58 at check out. 64oz of vinegar, 64oz of rubbing alcohol, 64oz water makes 12, 16oz spray bottles. When using 15 drops of oil per 16 oz spray bottle the total comes to about $1.78 per 16 oz bottle.

30ml of essential oil is approximately 500 drops. That is about 6 cents per drop. 15 drops per 16 oz spray bottle comes to 90 cents per bottle.

So yeah, its pretty cheap.

What brand of Essential Oils is Best?

Not all Essential Oil brands are made equal. For cleaning you want high quality essential oils. High quality essential oils are not always found at your local grocery store. Young Living, DoTERRA, Revive and Plant Therapy are all good, high quality brands you can trust for your diy cleaner. For more about these brands read Emma’s Post on the Top 10 Best Essential Oil Brands on her website, Essential Oil Haven.

Mistakes when Cleaning with Essential Oils

Mixing with bleach

Bleach and essential oils are completely different ways of cleaning. They do not mix well, its not considered to be safe. Bleach will overpower the sent of the essential oils. Essential oils are meant to be breathed in, benefiting the whole body. Bleach is not to be breathed in or put on your skin. Just don’t do it. It doesn’t make since to mix the two.

Using by themself

Essential oils alone are not are compete cleaner or disinfectant. Cleaning with essential oils is very effective and should be diluted to clean with. For best results mix with and non-toxic cleaners like Castile soaps, vinegar, witch hazel or rubbing alcohol to make your DIY cleaning spray.

Using too much/using too little

There no absolutely right amount of oils to use but there is a wrong. I typically find people use too little, trying to save the expensive oil. But its also true that you don’t need to over do it. 5 drops is not enough for a 16 oz spray bottle but 30-35 may also be more than enough, therefore being wasteful. Use your nose. If you put 15 drops in but you can’t smell the oils when you spray it, then its not enough. Add 3-5 more till you can smell it. If you use Vinegar along with your oil and you can’t smell of vinegar at all, maybe you used too much oil, or not enough vinegar. I am always looking for both smells while not letting either one over power the other.

Using low quality oils

One of the biggest mistakes I think you can do buying poor quality essential oils for your homemade cleaning products. You need 100% pure essential oils or they oil will not have enough or any of the antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti-fungal, antiseptic, de-greasing properties to them. Don’t use oils that are not 100% pure, or have other ingredients listed other that oils, like ‘fragrance’. Check out these 7 simple test to tell if you oil is pure or not.

Improper Storage

You should store your essential oils in a cool dark place. Using glass bottles, best if they are dark glass but not always necessary if you keep in a dark cabinet. UV rays can cause the oils to brake down and the dark glass helps keep them safe.
Plastic bottle react with the oils. The plastic can even start braking down and mixing the plastic toxins in with your oils. The oils can also pass through the plastic as it is more porous than glass. In both cases makes your oils not as pure or effective in their cleaning.

Forgetting to shake the bottle

Oils like to separate from water when sitting in the cabinet, shake for an even mixture before cleaning.

The post How to make Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner With Essential Oils appeared first on Embracing The Home.

This is a honorable goal and can bring joy to the home as long as its not paired with overwhelmed and stress. Here are 5 ways to keep the joy in your home and the stress elsewhere.

• Letting Go of Perfection
• Declutter Your Decorations
• Keep Your Everyday Meals Simple
• Consumable or No Clutter Gifts
• Remember, All Glory be to Christ

Letting Go of Perfection

No matter what trick you use to simplify your home, avoid overwhelm and make the holiday’s less stressful nothing will actually work unless your attitude and perspective are right. Some people call this taking care of your ‘mental health’. I would say this is much more of a heart issue than a mental issue.

When you love something it becomes important to you. Once something is important to you, you get anxious and stressed when that thing is not going the way it should. As a homemaker, we are responsible for the things going on in our home. The cleanliness, the meals, the way the home functions, we are the ones who get to work that out and accomplish it. It becomes important to us.

What do you love?

I love homemaking! Creating a home that is comfortable, hospitable, clean and has the smell of homemade meals delighting the soul is what I love doing. I love when my kids want to be home. When my husband comes home from work with a smile on his face. I want people to feel welcome and at home in my house. This is all good, until it is more important, loved more than my own families well being.

So what do I love more? I love the Lord and the most important thing I can do as a wife and mother is emulate Gods love to my family. Show them love, teach them love. Walk in His way and teach my kids to do the same.

Proverbs 25:24 says “It is better to dwell in a corner of a housetop, than in a house shared with a contentious woman.” It says similar things in Proverbs 21:9 and 27:15-16. If I’m continually stressed over the well being over the home and I’m yelling, complaining and getting frustrated with the kids, I’m in the wrong. My love is on my home and myself more than my family who the home is for. I have become a contentious women.

Let go of perfection

If you find yourself overwhelmed, bitter and contentious over the busy holiday season you need to let go of the perfection of your home and seek perfections or sanctification in your relationship with your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Avoid overwhelm by resting in the Lord. Remember His holiness. Be thankful for His sacrifice. Serve you family for His glory. Let go of the ideal perfect home and seek the perfect Lord. Let go of the idea of the perfect holiday experience and see the perfect Lord. Don’t hold onto the standards of the crunchy homemaker but seek the standards of the Lord. Only then will you be able to truly avoid overwhelm.

With that being said, lets get into some of the tips and trick that can help simplify our homes now that our hearts are set.

Declutter Your Decorations

To avoid the holiday overwhelm in your home, simplify you decorations. Now, I’m not saying you have to go all minimalist with your holiday decorations but try to avoid a cluttered look. Not every little angel, nutcracker or snowman has to be out every year. If your decorations make you feel like your house is clutter and uncleanable, simplify them.

A cluttered house can be hard to relax in. During this time of year our schedules are often full and cluttered. Our home should be able to give us all rest and peace. If the decorations stress you out, simplify them to fit your family’s needs.

Letting the kids help Decorate

When you have little kids who want to help decorate things can get stressful very easily. We imagine we will be making wonderful memories with our kids when decorating until they have their own great ideas of how things should look. Then its messy, unorganized, and chaotic.

I want my kids to be creative and celebrate our saviors birth with joy and not memories of mom controlling things and taking the fun out of it. But I also can’t stand the numerous messy, mismatching kids ornaments and cut outs, drawing and such. Its all clutter to me.

In our house, each of the kids rooms get their own tree with their own ornaments. My kids can also display all their arts and crafts and decorate in their own rooms however they want. They get to be creative and make memories. I get a tidy house with decoration that bring me joy and not stress.

Maybe you don’t want a tree or decorations in their room. You can also take same idea and apply it elsewhere in the house. Like a table, shelf or mantle that they get to decorate and arrange. Giving them some boundaries to their creativity is a good for them. When given boundaries they become more intentional with what they do.

Keep your everyday meals simple

The holiday season is all about food (and Jesus). From Thanksgiving to New Years there are so many traditional meals, sweet treats, from scratch family recipes we have to make. There are parties that we are baking for and edible gifts to make all on top of all the expected amazing holiday day-of meals.

For the homemaker it can be a lot of fun or stressful days in the kitchen. This is when meal planning and freezer meals come in handy. I love cooking, but it can be exhausting during the holidays to keep up with all the extra baking and cooking on top of the daily meals. Having a monthly meal plan laid out for the month of November and December help me a lot. Here are more resources on monthly meal planning.

When planning these meals I choose easy, simple meals that my family loves. Meals that can be make ahead of time if needed. In November I often make a few freezer meals for some of the busy days in December. This makes it easy for us to eat a healthy home cooked meal on days we have been out all day enjoy the seasons festivities. Having freezer meals ready also makes it easy for me to relax and not worry about dinner when I’m overwhelmed with all the extra holiday baking.

In all, to avoid the holiday overwhelm as a homemaker plan our a months worth of meals ahead of time. Choose simply easy meals. Have a well stocked freezer of meals ready to go.

Consumable or No Clutter Gifts

As a homemaker, as your family receives gifts, it can be stressful. As a mother with 5 small children we receive a lot of toys at Christmas time. It doesn’t help that we have November, December and January birthdays in our family. Lots of new things coming through that I must now find a place for in my home and teach my children to put them away properly.

The day after Christmas, about 3 years ago I remember looking at the mess and realizing I had not place to put all these new toy and I cried. I was overwhelmed. That day I made a plan, went to Walmart, bought bins and a new shelf, organized and threw out a lot of old toys to make room for the new ones. Here are a few tips on how to the avoid overwhelm and stress of gift receiving as a homemaker.

Tell your family and friends what gifts are appropriate

You don’t have to make this a joy killing moment of making harsh boundaries. It can be as simple as mentioning “We are getting out kids fun art supplies this year, they would love more coloring books too”. Often times that sparks a good conversation with friends and family as to what type of gifts are joy giving in your home.

In the past, to avoid overwhelm, I have had to give some family members a limit of how many toy and gift they can give my kids. Thankfully we have such good relationships that this was not offensive. When giving these types of boundaries I have often worded them like “We have a lot of toy right now, for Christmas I’d appreciate it if you only got them 1 toy. You can get them as many gifts as you want but can you keep the toys to a limit of 1 per child?” If you need more boundaries you can say something like “We have so much right now, and would appreciate a limit of only 3 gift this year.” Or what ever it needs to be.

What type of gifts to kids that are not toys

To avoid the clutter and overwhelm of toy during this seasons think of consumable or easy to store gifts for you kids. Gifts like sidewalk chalk, bubbles, coloring books are great non food consumable gifts. When they are done they are gone.

Food gifts, like their favorite snack in their stockings is always loved. I always fill my little kids stocking with applesauce, banana, boxes of yogurt covered raisins and fruit snacks and they love it! As they get older treats like, breakfast cookies, chocolate bars, trail mix. You can be as crunchy or not, food gifts are always loved.

For more ideas for no clutter consumable gifts here I have a list of 27 gifts ideas you can check out.

Remember, All Glory Be To Christ

Now that you have decluttered, stocked up on freezer meals, and your gifts aren’t stressing you out, you can remember again, this is all for the glory of Christ. It may be tempting to say what I do is for the glory of God. Christ is honored by my work. I give honer to Christ with what I accomplish. Like a knight saying he will win this tournament for the beautiful lady. Its not about me giving God glory with what I do but doing what He would have me do that brings Him glory.

All glory be to Christ means I seek His will and workout His plan that He has for me. God has prepared work for us to do and yes, doing the dishes, making the meals, wrapping the gifts so beautifully is a part of the life that he has given to us. But the work he desires for us is in our heart attitude towards Him and our neighbors. He desires us to love Him with all our hearts, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbors as ourself. Put off sin, confess and repent, giving glory to our Lord.

When you do the work of a homemaker, don’t come to God saying “Look what I did for your glory” but come to God asking “What can I do to give your glory”.

The post How to find joy and avoid overwhelm as a homemaker this holiday season appeared first on Embracing The Home.

Salt is made of sodium chloride, a compound mineral of sodium and chloride. Salt is gathered from the ocean, rock salt deposits from ancient dried up seas, or from brine, a concentrated salt water. To gather the salt you evaporate the water and are left with all the minerals, sodium chloride. 

Depending on where you gather your salt it will also contain traces of other beneficial minerals such as, iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, calcium, potassium and selenium. All essential nutrient to the function of our bodies. 

The ancient sea salt deposits have the most beneficial minerals, sea salt from the ocean is second and salt made from brine has the fewest beneficial minerals. Table salt is made from a brine. When they make salt from brine the purposely strip our other minerals such as magnesium and calcium to produce the purest from of sodium chloride. In the 1920s there was a iodine deficiency among the people in the USA and they started adding iodine to the salt and there is where we get our iodized table salt from.

Different Types of Salt

We categorize salt in three different ways, sea salt, rock salt and table salt. 

Sea Salts are derived from the ocean. You can buy Mortans Sea Salt, Azure Sea Salt, Kirkland Sea Salt… etc. There are many different brands of sea salt harvested from different parts of the world. 

Rock Salts are gathered from salt mines. These mines are from salt deposits from old salt lakes and seas that have evaporated years ago and our found under the rocky layers of earths surface. Salts like Redmond Real Salts, Pink Himalayan Salt, Celtic Sea Salt and more are all gathered from rock salt mines. 

Brine Salts are also gathered from salt mines but extracted in a different way. Rock salt is extracted by drilling, crushing and braking down the salt floor and salt walls. Brine salt is extracted through hydraulic methods. They flood the salt floors with water then pump the new salt water brine to the surface and evaporate the water to get the salt again. After that they process the salt getting it to as pure of a form of sodium chloride as they can. This salt is commonly known as Table Salt or Iodized Salts.

Health benefits of Real Salt

Here is one of the many benefits of salt in our diets. 

Our bodies are in need of many minerals to function properly. Hydration is extremely important to our bodies but did you know that drinking water will not hydrate your body alone? In order for out body to absorb the water we drink we need to have a good balance of vitamins and minerals in our bodies.  

Electrolyte are the most needed minerals for the hydration of our bodies. The primary key electrolytes the body needs are sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, and bicarbonate. 

Celtic salt is mostly sodium chloride. It also includes 90 other trace minerals including potassium, calcium and 3 different types of magnesium. That’s 5 out of 7 of the primary electrolytes. Table salt has little to no trace minerals and is simply sodium chloride.

Don’t forget fresh fruits and vegetables are going to be the best way to add more vitamins and minerals to your diet. Electrolyte powders and drinks are a supplement if needed. 

By using a Pink Himalayan Salt, Celtic Salt or Redmond Salt you will be adding many other minerals to your daily diet than if you simply used table salt.

The Health Risks of Too Much Salt

Too much sodium chloride (salt) can have its down side for sure. There are studies that show how salt can raise you blood pressure causing a multitude of issues. There also studies that connect high sodium levels with stomach cancer and cardiovascular disease, heart attack and other health conditions. 

Now before you take salt out of your diet completely we must understand how we get high sodium levels. 

Our cells contain pumps that help keep the balance of sodium and potassium within the cell. We get most of our potassium intake from the vegetables we eat. If you don’t eat your vegetables and are putting lots of table salt (Sodium Chloride, no other minerals) on your food, sodium will raise and potassium will drop. When the sodium levels are too high the cell swells causing high blood pressure.

The solution is not to simply take out sodium from your diet but to create a balance with sodium and potassium and all your other minerals. Using a rock salt with other trace minerals in them will help create that balance, sometimes evening keeping a low blood pressure.  

Did you know that the too much salt can mess with your taste buds? Salty foods can dull your taste buds temporarily. And often with dull taste buds we end up adding more salt.

The Health Risks of Too Little Salt

Less salt or not enough salt can be just as dangerous as too much. After oxygen and water the next element that we need to survive is sodium, after that potassium. 

If you google “benefits of sodium” you will find it plays a role in keeping our fluids balance, balanced blood pressure, transporting nerve impulses, blood flow and circulation, glucose absorption and more.

Taking sodium out of your diet completely will harm you in the end. But overdoing sodium without the presence of other minerals and vitamins will also harm you. The trick is a well balanced diet with whole foods and real salt, not regular table salt. 

Prepackaged Foods VS Whole Foods

To create a well balanced diet full of good nutrition we need to be eating whole unprocessed foods. What are whole foods? Whole foods are foods that are not processed or refined but whole in nutrient. Whole fruits and vegetables, meat off the bone, fresh baked breads and goods rather than prepackaged foods. Most breakfast cereals is not a whole food, oatmeal is a whole food. Mashed potatoes from a mix is not a whole food, mashed potatoes from fresh potatoes is a whole food. 

There are a lot of prepackaged or frozen meals out there that add sodium to make it taste good and is also used as a preservative. In these prepackaged meal there is a high amount of sodium but little potassium, magnesium or other vitamins and minerals. Its also not uncommon for people to add table salt to these meals. This can lead to high sodium intake causing high blood pressure amongst other problems.

Eating whole foods and meals from scratch will help you keep a balanced diet with all your nutritional needs being met. Choosing high quality whole foods enhances your vitamin and mineral intake helping your body function properly. Cooking with real salt and knowing exactly how much is in your meal will help you balance you salt intake avoiding the risk of too much or too little salt.

I highly recommend you stay away from fast food and ready-made foods if you are trying to stay away from a high-salt diet. Here in the united states we make ready-made foods with excess salt. When shopping for quick meals check your food labels and nutrition labels. Buy more fresh foods for a healthy diet.

Salt Substitutes

If you are trying to lower your sodium intake with less salt then here are a few salt substitutes you can use to lower the amount of salt you use on your everyday foods. 

• Lemon juice and Vinegar –  both acidic in nature, enhancing the flavor of your foods without the use of sodium. 
• Nutritional Yeast – Is full of vitamins and minerals and is beneficial to your diet. Sprinkling a little on your food to replace salt and adds a cheesy – nutty flavor. 
• Herbs, Spices and Peppers, Onions and Garlic – We often us salt to draw out the flavor of our food. Adding more flavor cuts down the need to add as much salt to make it flavorful. 
• Soy sauce – Although known to be high in sodium you might be surprised to the difference between soy sauce and table salt. Soy sauce is a good source for sodium, magnesium, potassium, iron and more. When sodium is paired with these other vitamins and minerals our body is about to absorb and use them properly.

Real Redmond Salt

Enhance the flavor with good real salt like Redmond Real Salt. If you are looking for a unrefined natural salt with multiple minerals and key electrolytes harvested in the USA, then look no further. Redmond Real Salt is full of flavor and nutrients and harvested out of the ancient seabed deep beneath Central Utah.

The post Is Salt Healthy? What You Need to Know About Salt. appeared first on Embracing The Home.

I have a great responsibility as a parent not to just take them to church and Sunday school to hear the gospel, but to teach my young kids myself. But how? How do we teach our young children the way they should go? Is it not God who does the work in each individuals life? I don’t want them force them or feel like I’m pushing “religion” on them. How do we let them make their own choice while also taking on the responsibly of teaching them the most important thing, the gospel message, the way to eternal life? 

Here I go over six ways I bring up the gospel constantly in conversation with my kids. Teaching them the truths of the gospel that changed my life. But first! What is the Gospel?

What is the Gospel?

The gospel is not just bible stories but the good news of Jesus Christ! When God created the world he created man to be in perfect fellowship with Him. Knowing God fully and glorifying Him in life in the Garden of Eden. But Adam and Eve sinned and now are separated from God, for God cannot dwell with sin. Separation from God leads to death, for the wages of sin is death. 

Now, we all have sinned, we all deserve separation from God and the punishment of hell. But while we were still sinners Christ Jesus, God in flesh came and dwelt among us sinful men. Living a perfect, sinless life, our God, Jesus Christ was tortured and killed on a cross. Jesus took the punishment we sinners deserved freeing us from Gods wrath.

Then, on the 3rd day after his death, Jesus rose up from the grave! Sin and death had not power over Jesus because he had never sinned. Now Jesus offers us new risen life through His death and resurrection. 

If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Making us alive together in Christ, free from sin and one with God again. We now live a new life by the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of god.

1. As We Walk by The Way

In Deuteronomy 6:7 the Lord commands us as parents to teach our children diligently. Talking with our kids when we sit, walk, rest and rise up. Teaching our kids in all that we do to give glory and honor to our Lord. So how do we bring God up in our daily conversations? Here are a few ideas.

When we sit.

When we sit to eat a meal we pray, thanking God for his provision in our lives with this meal. Praying before meals help establish in your kids hearts thankfulness towards God as well as remembering its God we relay on for all that we have. He is provider. 

When we sit together and relax on the couch, watching a movie or reading a book. When something comes up in a show or story that is God honoring we point it our with conversation. “Oh that is so cool, it reminds my of when God….” “Wow, Gods works are amazing.” “Did you see how that person was loving like God is?” Point out and ponder with your kids His awesomeness in these gospel conversations. 

Point out when we see things that do not honor our God. “Oh, yeah, that bad guy does not love God”. “That person was not kind, do you think they will be punished as God punishes the wicked or will they be forgiven as God forgives?” “What does the bible say about that?” Point out and ponder on Gods judgment and mercy. 

As we sit and watch the world, pondering the things in the world, teach your kids view all things through the bible. Though the eyes of God. What does God say about these things we see and how should we think about them? 

One day my 6 year old ask why is was so windy. I told him that God made the wind and he uses it to move seeds around and plant new plants. And although that is not the only work wind does my son now understands God is a work through nature. He sees the wind and does not complain but stands in awe of Gods awesome deeds.

When we walk.

When we walk by the way, while we are in action, motion, doing things, going places we explain to our kids why. “We go to church… to learn more about God, worship Him and encourage others.” “Doing our chores, we to take care of what God has given us, just like God takes care of us.” “We do our homework to grow in knowledge so we can understand God word and the world he created, God is wise and calls us to wisdom.” “We get to play with our friends because God loves fellowship and friendships, and God is the best friend we could ever have.” 

When asked why we do something take the time to explain how what we do reflex Gods character. Not just because God wants us to do these good works but why God wants these things for us. Motivate your kids do walk and act in the fruit of the spirit, honoring God, not themselves, by giving them Gods reasons behind our actions.

When we rest.

When we lay down to rest. Teach your kids that not to fear or worry by resting in the Lord. We pray before we go to sleep. Giving thanks for the day and asking for peace for the night. We read the psalm together and talk about how God is our shield and fortress. How we rest by streams of water that God provides. When my enemy surrounds me, I trust in God. 

Our children are going to face many hardships in life, just as we do. I want my child to rest in the Lord, trust in Him. First, I get to show an example of that when I go through a trial. I myself must trust in the Lord and rest in Him, for He is good. Then I tell my children, when things don’t go their way, that God is good even when He takes away. 

Teaching children trust takes a long time as we often have to wait for the end result. The situation I find most common is when my kids are hungry but lunch is not ready yet. When I tell them to wait I have an opportunity to ask “do you trust that I will make your lunch at the right time?” “if you truly trust me then I want you to wait patiently”. 

The best thing you can do is come through with every promise you make to your kids. So make them wisely. Teach them to trust you and point them directly to God. “You can trust me because you know I love you and I love God. God loves you more then I can love, you can trust Him.”

When we rise up.

When we rise up in the morning we thank God for His beautiful day. We read our bible at breakfast. Refreshed from the peace that God gives, we go to work and play throughout our day. 

Again, just as we walk by the way, we raise up and do the actions God has prepared for us. When we raise up we have the opportunity to teach our children that our good works and actions are for the glory of the Lord. Colossians 3:23 say “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men”. 

To share the good new of the gospel with your kids you can ask them “why do we work unto the Lord?” Encourage conversation about what God has done for us, creating us, providing for us, loving us. And what do we do in return? Well, we sin. We don’t obey, we don’t love, we don’t trust. Yet, he sent his son to save us from our sin and give us a new heart that loves, obeys and trust in God. God is so good to us. So good he even gives us the opportunity to work, raise up and work with him for Gods glory and our benefit. 

So whatever we do. Do it unto the Lord. For he is good and worthy of our praise through our raising up to action.

2. Remember

Remembering daily

Psalm 77 calls us to remember His might deeds and wondrous works. Daily we can encourage our kids to remember the gospel as we remind them of God’s love and might deeds in our daily life. 

Giving credit to God for the things he has done in our lives is the best way to start reminding them of His gospel. You can remind them every time their little ‘owies’ heal that God is the one who heals us, just like Jesus healed people in the bible. We remember that Jesus controls the weather, just like he did the storms in the bible. God makes everything grow, just like when he created the whole earth.

Remember the holiday’s

We remember Gods great works in all the little things, while also taking special days to remember special works. In the Old Testament God gave the Israelite’s instructions on when and how to remember Gods works every sabbath as well as at every feast!

Those feast are like our holidays. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter. These holiday’s are easy to remember Jesus. We remember the day Jesus was born. On Thanksgiving, we gives thanks to God. We remember the resurrection of Christ on Easter. If those holiday’s are not about Christ in your household you are missing out on a great opportunity to be preaching the truth of the gospel with your kids. 

But what about the other holiday’s? Halloween, Forth of July, even Presidents Day. Connecting the gospel to these holidays can be more difficult but will show your kids that God to be glorified in everyday. 

Halloween can be a very dark night in some cultures. At our church we host “Lighthouses” at a members house in a trick-or-treating neighborhood. We have music, puppet shows, hot chocolate and lot and lots of candy. The goal is to show our kids and the town that Christ is the light of the world and in him there is not darkness. Even on your darkest night, Christ’s light will shine through. 

Forth of July we celebrate our freedom in our country. Talk to your kids about freedom and what that means, ask them about the freedom from sin we have in Jesus. That’s the best kind of freedom. 

Presidents Day, God places every leader in his place at the appointed time. We can thank God for his grace with good presidents and His righteous judgment with the not so good presidents. Bad leadership is a reminder from God that we need to turn from our own sins in repentance and turn to Christ and His leadership in our lives. 

Remember, everyday, especially on Sundays and Holidays, Gods mighty works and share them with your children.

3. Forgiveness

Showing forgiveness towards your kids is probably the most important way to share the gospel with your kids. God forgives us and sends our sin as far as east is from the west, never to be heard from again. We need to love our kids in that same way. 

Your kids do not need to earn forgiveness, just like we don’t earn it from God. Our sins have been forgiven by the blood of Jesus and now we can forgive others just as Christ has forgiven us. Do not hold your kids sins against them. Once the punishment, discipline or grace has taken place, forgiveness of sins is granted and we move on.

Christ does not throw our old, forgiven sin back in our face to continually make us feel guilty but desires a restored relationship. We to must restore our relationship with our children, never making them feel guilty again for a sin that has been forgiven.

4. God Disciplines Those He Loves

Forgiveness of sins and grace is so important when sharing the gospel but so is Gods wrath and discipline. Without a punishment for sin we cannot have forgiveness. A payment is required for justice sake and God is just. Thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who took the wrath upon himself at the cross for our sins. 

When disciplining your kids the gospel should always be the center of that discipline. Reminding your kids that sin separates us from God. God is good and there is no good when separated from Him. Because you did wrong you need a punishment that goes with the wrong you did. Just like how God will punish the wicked for their wrong. But because of my love for you and Gods love for you, you will be punished so that you know what is wrong way and turn towards the right way. 

When you know what is wrong you can repent and say sorry. If you don’t know its wrong you will not repent. God forgives those who confess their sin. I want to teach my kids to confess their sin so I can lavish forgiveness and love on them, just as Christ has done for me. 

I want my kids to be quick to repent to God their sins. Not in fear that God will destroy them but knowing He will forgive them. I want them to remember that Christ died for that sin, confess it to the Lord and walk in gift of God, freedom from sin.

5. We Love Because Christ Loved Us

When sharing the gospel with my kids I want them to know Christ great love towards them and the type of love they ought to have towards one another. We have a great opportunity to share the gospel with our kids when teaching them how the ought to treat others. “No, we don’t hit, ask nicely for the toy. God loves you sister, so we should love your sister, being kind and patient.” 

We want our kids to grown up like Christ so show them that God loves others and we should love whom God loves, in the same way God loves them. Jesus loved us so much he died on the cross for us for you sibling, for your friend. Now its our turn to lay our lives, our desires, our comfort down for our kids, and show them to do the same for others.  

6. Read The Bible, Pray and Memorize Bible Verses Together. 

Reading the bible, praying and memorizing bible verses together is probably the easiest way to share the gospel with your children. Taking the time to do a bible study and share helpful verses with one another is a great way to introduce the good news of the gospel. When scripture is being read together regularly when the bad attitude and selfishness of your kids starts to appear it will be easy to remind them of the bible verses you have memorized together they have already been taught. 

Our kids need to be prepared for the scary things that are going to come their way in life. We can either teach them as things come up, or we can try to prepare them, before the trial comes, to remember what they know to be truth about the love of Jesus. 

My prayer for you and your children is that you both grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be strengthened in the power of God to continue to have gospel conversations, training your kids to love God’s word, pray and love others.

The post How To Share the Gospel With Your Kids appeared first on Embracing The Home.

• Meal Planning for a Month Vs. a Week
• How To Meal plan for a Month
  • Start with Base Ingredients
  • Create a List of Family Favorite Meals
  • Meal Plan According the Ingredients You Have
• What Happens When My Schedule Changes?
• Free Meal Planning Templates

Meal Planning For A Month Vs A Week

Most people I know plan weekly meal plans or don’t plan and all. When I was trying to plan my family’s meals a week at a time I kept struggling to actually get it written out done each week. There was always a day or two that I’d be struggling to think of something last minute because I failed and getting a menu plan written out in time. 

January of 2024 I decided to try planning my meals for a entire month. I planned the whole month out and it took so much stress away! I thought that if I had a hard time planning a weekly menu then monthly meals would be worse, but it was easier.

New Recipes

When planning the month I was able to be more consistent and more creative with new recipes with my meals. When meal planning for a week at a time I would find myself trying think of different meals for each week. If we had it last week I though I couldn’t plan for it again the next week because we would get tired of eating the same foods all the time. 

As I planned a month out I was able to see how often I was repeating meals and how often I was adding in new meals more clearly then when I was planning for a week. I no longer felt guilty keeping the same easy quick meals ever Tuesday and Wednesday (our busiest evenings) because I was being more creative on all the other nights.

Staying in Budget

As I meal planned monthly I found I was able to make a more accurate grocery shopping list. I was not longer buying food because we might eat it but because we planned to eat it on a specific day of the week. I was not buying food that would go bad and it reduced my food waste in our house by a lot. 

At the beginning of the month I would plan my meals based off of what foods we had in our house at that time. If we have rice, I made sure it was on the menu. If we have left over chicken or an abundance of potatoes, those foods made it on the monthly menu. Then I would make my shopping list. Going over each meal and making sure I had everything I needed for the entire month on my grocery list. I would brake up the produce into 2 weeks and shop for the second part of the month in another two week to keep fresh produce in the house. 

This planning process kept me from spending money on items that we would not eat. I was also able to plan creative meals using the ingredients we had or that I knew would not be expansive to purchase. Without last minute trips to the local grocery store we have been able to keep our food budget.

How To Meal Plan For A Month

To meal plan for a month may seem daunting. You may be tempted to think you can’t do it because you don’t know what or where you will be on 3 Friday’s from now. Or you might have had a hard time thinking of 7 different meals how am I going to think of 30? 

Here are my 3 tips for for successful meal planing. Plan by base ingredients, create a master list of family favorite meals, meal plan with ingredients you already have.

Plan your meals by base ingredients

The base ingredients are the foundation of your meal. Just to name a few… pasta, rice, potatoes, chicken, fish, ground beef… You can make many different recipes with these bases. For each day of the week I choose a base. (Your list may look different with a lot more meat, we eat mostly vegetarian in our house)

• Mondays – potatoes or soups
• Tuesday – Rice and beans (Taco Tuesday)
• Wednesday – Picnic sandwiches (we don’t eat at home on Wednesdays)
• Thursday – Rice and fish
• Friday – Salads and meat
• Saturday – Random/special meals

Again, I do not stick to this perfectly, I am not a slave to this list. I mix things around all the time but this weekly base ingredient list gives me something to work off of if I can’t think of anything else to make.

Here an example of meals that go with each category or base ingredient.

• Potatoes – Baked potatoes with baked beans and cornbread, Mashed Potatoes with lentil stew, Shepherds Pie, Potato soup…
• Rice and Beans – Tacos, burritos, nachos, bean bowls…
• Rice and Fish – Shrimp stir fry, shrimp scampi, shrimp saganaki (greek dish), balsamic glazed salmon, honey mustard salmon, crispy fried cod…
• Big Salads and Meat – Taco salad, greek salad with lamb or chicken, Italian salad with pizza or chicken, sweet broccoli salad with stake…
• Pasta – Lasagna, spaghetti and meat balls, alfredo, pesto, pasta salad, lemon pasta…

I hope these lists help you see how you can take base ingredients and think of many different meals to eat throughout the month. Keeping it simple with lots of verity.

You can also make a goal is to choose a protein, vegetable and starch/grain for each meal. 

Proteins 

• Meat
• Eggs
• Fish
• Beans

Vegetables

• Broccoli
• Salad
• Green beans…

Starch/Grains

• Breads
• Pasta
• Rice or quinoa
• Potatoes
• Sweet Potatoes 

Add one of each of these three food categories to each day and you will have a healthy meal plan.
examples:
Chicken – rice – roasted broccoli and cauliflower
Pot Roast- Potatoes – Carrots
Ground Beef – pasta – Salad

Create a list of family favorite meals

When meal planning for your whole family its always helps to know what everyone likes to eat. Another list that might be helpful is of what your family does not like. How to you find out your family’s preferences? Ask. When you sit down the meal plan ask your husband and kids what they would like to each this month. Fit their meal ideas in where they make since to you. If you have younger kids who only want pancakes and chicken nuggets for dinner, you can also take note on which meals they finished and what meals are a struggle to finish. If they ask for seconds, its a keeper. 

Here is a list you can download for free of lots of different meal options. Keep this list near your meal planner or on the refrigerator to help you when planning out the month. Once you’ve tried a meal and you notice your kids love it or hate it, rate it on your list. Give it a star, or cross it out. This way the next month you will be able to remember how to bring meals to the table the whole family can enjoy.

Meal plan According To The Ingredients you have

To help you save money, cut down on food waste and get the idea’s flowing for meals, look not to Pinterest, but in your cabinets, refrigerator and freezer to see what you can make with what you have first. Check the back of your freezer, find that bag of frozen green beans or that can of kidney beans that’s been in the pantry for months. Minestrone Soup, perfect, you can use both the green beans and kidney beans in that recipe. 

I’m all about stocking up on bulk items to save money and be prepared. But when you stock up, don’t make the mistake of not using those items. Continue to use what is on your shelf now instead of always buying more just to make what sounds good in the moment.

What happens if my schedule changes?

Its true, we often don’t know everything about our social calendar a month in advance. But planning meals that far in advance is not a hindrance but a help. 

When you plan meals for the whole month we can first look at the family calendar and see what days we know will will be gone for most of the day. There are times when I know we will be out doing one thing or another. So I either plan to meal prep the day before, plan to make extra of something earlier on in the week to eat leftover that day, or plan a slow cooker or crackpot meal. 

But, when something comes up unexpected and your planned meal won’t work for you that specific day, you can trade it with another day’s meal. I first ask myself, “can I make this in the crackpot?” If the answer is “no” I find another meal that is on my plan, that I already have the ingredients for, that will work in the crock pot. 

Another trick I use is to have extra pasta and sauce in my pantry for days when I was unable to make anything in time or when my husband has to make dinner. Quick meals like that, not on your meal plan, is great to have in your pantry when your in a pinch. 

Don’t be a slave to your meal plan. We plan ahead so we have freedom, not bondage to the plan.

Free Meal Planning Templates

Now that you know the benefits of monthly meal planning its time to get organized. Personally I like to use a calendar for my meal planning. I keep it on the side of our refrigerator so everyone can see what’s for dinner. This is super helpful for my husband as he sometimes gets nervous when it looks like I’m making a super healthy meal. He gets to look at the menu and see although we are having lentils today we will be having pizza tomorrow and he has hope. 

Some people keep a binder with their grocery list and chores list in, some people just write out a list on a scrap paper and keep it in the kitchen while other keep the list on their phones. There’s no right or wrong on your own organization preferences. As long as it helps you.

What you must do is write out your full plan. Again, start with whats in your cabinets now, using the base ingredients to come up with a variety of recipes. Don’t be afraid to repeat recipes on a specific day of the week. Pick days you know you will be home all day to try new recipes. Then finally make your grocery shopping list that revolves around your planned menu.

With that being said here are few free printable templates that you might like.

Edit For Yourself in Canva

Monthly Meal Planning List Layout

2025 Monthly Calendar

2025 Monthly Calendar Lined

175+ Meal Planning Dinner Ideas

Ready To Print!

Meal Planning Monthly List

2025 Monthly Calendar

2025 Monthly Calendar Lined

175+ Meal Planning Dinner Ideas

More meal planning tips and tricks

I know I didn’t cover everything on the subject of meal planning so comment below if there more tips or ticks to meal planning that my readers could benefit from. I would love to hear from you all the success you have had in your own meal planning.

The post How to Meal Plan for a Month – Save Money with Simple Meals appeared first on Embracing The Home.

Glorify the Lord and Enjoy Him Forever

What is you goal in life? What is your purpose in life? And what is your chief end in life?

It is easy to think that keeping the house in order is the main purpose of my life as a stay at home mom. The routines is repetitive, the daily tasks and daily chores make us think, because we do these things daily they are the reason we exists. But just because we do the laundry daily it does not define us as to who we are or what are purpose is.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism states that “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever”. Although these exact words are not in scripture the concept is clearly seen through the whole bible. God calls us to a relationship with him just like He had with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. But due to our sin we have been separated from the relationship. Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ coming from heaven, God with man, suffering for our sin on the cross and giving us new life apart from sin in His own resurrection.

Now that we are saved from the power of sin in our lives we have a restored relationship with God. What does God now have for us in this relationship? To enjoy Him and glorify Him for who He is and what He has done. Revelation 4:11: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

How Does the Gospel Apply to Housework?

Now that we are reminded of the gospel (the good news) of Christ how does that overflow outside of Church and Bible Study and actually apply to my chores and housework? 1 Corinthians 10:31: “So whether you are eating or drinking, or whatever you are do, do it all to the glory of God”. How? What does that mean?

This is a mindset, or change of heart we must have. Let’s first ask “why am I washing the dishes?” “Doing the laundry?” “picking up these toys again?”. Is it for the shallow reasons of simply just having a clean house? What is your motivation? Be honest with yourself. Is it a pride issue? Or to earn favor from man? Often when we feel overwhelm over life it is because we have the wrong motivation behind our actions.

With the gospel in mind and Gods word in mind, lets ask again, “why would God have me do these chores?”. First lets remember that God created all things and he created us in his likeness. Then in the garden He gave Adam a job… before sin… to take care of the garden and the animals, naming them. Just as God has named all the stars and every grain of sand, He holds all things together, He then made Adam (man) his steward to work similarly. In His likeness. He gave Adam purpose and enjoyment in the works he prepared for him. 

In sin, these works that God gave us can be burdensome. To work is something God created for us to do while in perfect relationship with him. Without the gospel there is no true joy or satisfaction in our work. But in Christ we have joy unspeakable and freedom with do good works for Gods glory without the weight of sin telling us we are not good enough.

Christ Our Life, Not Just One Part

Often we try to compartmentalize our relationship with God. Sundays we go to church and that’s when we worship, In the morning I read my bible, and once a week I volunteer. Check, check, check. I’ve met up with God this week. NO! The scripture clearly states that Christ is to be Lord of our lives. In every aspect. Not just in “churchy” things but while mopping the floor, cleaning the toilets, even in the dentist chair.

The Israelite’s were told to remember, and to continually teach and give thanks for what God has done for them. In Romans 12 we are told to renew our mind and be transformed by the gospel. When Christ is our head, and to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever is our priority, there is joy and satisfaction in everything else that we do.

Psalms 16:11 says “In His presence there is fullness of joy and His right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Continue in his presence through out the day, though out the chores and housework and you will have fullness of joy.

Keep A Simple Schedule

Now, even with the gospel in hand we cannot do everything. We are not God. He has prepared his good works us to do but that doesn’t mean we must be doing everything under the sun. 

When your schedule keeps you out of the house for most of the week then household chores and housework are going to get neglected. You might think that because you are out of the house it wont be so messy or need as much work. Wrong, the laundry still piles up, the dishes don’t get done as you are eating and running out the door. You are tired when you get back from you outing and you think you will have time the next day to get the work done.

Staying home will get the housework done. But never going out and always saying no to outings is another mistake. There’s a different balance for everyone and it take trial, error and instinct to figure it out. Here are some tips to help you though.

Schedule Regular Outings

Schedule weekly outings for you and your family to be apart of as well as time at home. Our weekly schedule looks like this.

• Monday – I teach piano lessons from home, evening is family time.
• Tuesday – Story Time at the Library with friends – evening bible study with church friends.
• Wednesday – Homeschool co op – evening youth group bible study we serve at.
• Thursday – I bring the kids to clean the church – evening church worship band practice for me, kids have a fun night with dad.
• Friday – Is reserved for the random appointments and staying home.
• Saturday – Adventure or rest.
• Sunday – Church and extended family lunch and dinner.

This may not look like a simple schedule and some weeks it does not feel simple at all. But it is consistent. I’m able to work each day around my consistently scheduled events throughout the week. Being consistent makes the decision making and planing simple.

Make a list for yourself first on what outing naturally happen, then write out what you want your outings to look like.

Schedule Daily Blocks

Now that we have our weekly outings written out we can give ourselves a rough daily routine. First write out what your natural daily routine looks like, the good and the bad. Address the times you scroll though Instagram to much or what too much Youtube. Allow yourself some down time but be aware of your time wasters.

Write our your daily schedule out in time blocks rather than exact times. When your weekly schedule interferes don’t stress. Our daily schedule is more of something to fall back on rather than to control us.

Here is my daily schedule.

• 6:00am – Write on Blog
• 7:30 – Workout
• 8:00-9:00 Kids get up/Breakfast/Read Together
• 9:00-12:00 Household chores/meal prep/homeschool.
• 12:00pm – Lunch
• 1:00-3:00 – Catch up time or projects/hobbies. If I we were out in the morning I will catch up with chores and meal prepping during this time. If I’m all caught up on housework, I like to throw myself into a project or hobby like sewing, flipping furniture, creating a new recipe, deep cleaning or decluttering job.
• 3:00-5:00 – Nap time/Quiet time. My younger one take there naps while my older boys play and I go to my room and rest, work on blog, bible study.
• 5:00 – Finish making dinner
• 7:00 – Evening outings or family time.
• 9:00 – bed time for kids.

Again, this is the schedule I fall back on when I don’t know what to do next. It does not control me, I am not a slave to my schedule but it is a tool that helps me stay on top of all the housework I have to do and want to do. Friday’s are the only day that I might follow this schedule exactly. Every other day there is an interruption somewhere but I always know how to come back.

This daily schedule changes with each new season of life, too. With all of lives changes we should adapt our schedule to the life changes rather than our lives to the schedule. I like to rewrite this out every 6 month or so according to what comes most natural to me during that season of life. In the summer things are a little different than in winter because we our outside more. Gardening take a priority as well as swimming/water play, everyday. I’m due with baby number 5 this summer and nap times and nursing are bound to change the schedule.

List Your Priorities

Make a list of what is most important to you and your family with your husband. Start with your weekly commitments. Rank each item so that when you feel overwhelmed and you need a day at home you know what is important and what you can miss out on.

Know what is important to your husband and let him know what’s important to you. There will be times when you will have to sacrifice your ideals for his and he will sacrifice his for yours. Knowing each other passions will help you remove this unimportant commitments in your life before having to sacrifice too much.

For example. Two things my husband sees as priority is our ministry with the youth (wed) and family adventures (sat). I too priority our shared youth ministry as well as my music ministry (Thur & Sun). We both love our Tuesday night bible study but its the first evening activity to get thrown out if needed. Second is my Thursday night band practice (we have a Sunday morning practice too) and unless we are sick or have a newborn we do not miss Wednesday Youth Group. 

Ranking each item on your weekly schedule and daily schedule help you see in the moment of what is truly important for your family. Giving you the freedom to take the less important things off in order to make the priorities happen without stress.

Declutter

The more stuff you have in your house the more housework and stress you will have. Now I’m not saying you need to be a minimalist in order to be successful in your home. What you have needs to bring you joy rather than stress. Having useless items around your house is, well, useless. If you love all the kitchen gadgets and use them then there’s no need to get rid of them. If you love your clothes and wear them, keep them. But if you find things in your closet that you know you are never going to fit in again or that is just not practical with your lifestyle anymore. Get it out.

Declutter a little bit at a time each week. Make decluttering a normal part of your chores and housework. Clean out the fridge, freezer or the spice cabinet. Do you really use all those towels in your linen closet or can two or three go making the door actually closable. If you are having a hard time containing something ask yourself if you need it as that much of it. Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to reorganize and declutter your whole house at once.

Weekly Check-in with your husband

Another wonderful way prepare yourself for a successful week is to set your priorities with your husband for the upcoming week. Know his schedule, let him know yours, even in areas he’s not involved in personally. Saying out loud, to your husband, what is important for you this week keeps you on the same track. One of the things this week for me is changing the kids winter clothes to summer clothes. This is not a daily or even monthly task so it becomes an item on my list that I want my husband to know about. Now that he knows he will understand why I might ask him for helping with the laundry or getting boxes out of the closet. When he comes home to a with clothes everywhere instead of being overwhelm himself, he will know exactly whats happening and ready to help with big chore on this weeks list. 

This weekly check in can also be used as a time to ask about prayer request for each other. Sharing with one another what’s on your heart, or what the Lord has taught your this week. A time to minister to each other not just in how to improve the messy house and daily routines but a time to know each others heart and desires. Supporting each other spiritually, materialistically and physically.

Realistic Expectations

You can easily set yourself up for failure in by giving yourself unrealistic expectations. It is unrealistic to have all the housework, chores, cooking, cleaning and laundry done completely. Its the way of life, we eat, clean up and make more food to eat again only to clean up again.

Its easy to get frustrated with the cycle thinking you are failing because the cycles continues but that is not the case. The cycle is beautiful and ordained by God. God created cycles in season, in weeks, in days, in weather and in the way plants grow and the way we are born to grow, live and die. This cycle of time that God created FOR us is beautiful and for his glory.

The cycle of the work within our home is a beautiful thing. We get to make life enjoyable with the work we put into the cycle. Making food that’s taste good, creating a space for relaxation and fun. Teaching children to read and watching them grow to love the Lord. It is a beautiful life.

Expecting the toys to cover the floor again minutes after you were finally able to vacuum after 2 or more week… will not disappoint you. Remember you kids are eager to work their brains with creative playing as a part of the beautiful cycle of life. 

Don’t give yourself unrealistic goals but be honest with yourself. What housework can I get done today? How can you improve your schedule? Be aware of what is realistic and strive for it. As a christian stay-at-home mom, don’t get down on yourself or give up because you can’t obtain the Instagram or tik-tok house. The Instagram house is a stage, its not something people live in. Your purpose in life is not the perfect home but to glorify God in your home. Your home contains life, embrace your home.

More Verses for Encouragement

For more encouragement from scripture read some of these passages. Comment below with other scripture, points or resources that help you gain peace in craziness of life.

1 Peter 4:11, Romans 11:36, Philippians 4:6-8, Matthew 6: 25-33

The post Overwhelmed by Housework – Motivation for Christian Moms appeared first on Embracing The Home.

• No Clutter Gifts 
• Less Clutter Gifts 

These are some of the best non-toy gifts that I have given to my kids. This list has wonderful gifts for kids of all ages, older children to little kids alike. New toys are always a hit with the kids but often for the parents they can be a burden. Obviously the gift is for the kids not the parents but I would hope you would want to bless the parents as well as the kids.

But First, Talk To The Parents

When giving gifts we want to give from the heart and if we truly want their well being we will give appropriate gifts. Knowing not just what the kids want but what the parents allow is important. Your niece might tell you she wants a toy microphone and speaker but will that annoy her mother…? your sister…? Yes it will. So I bought it for her. Do as I say, not as I do. 

Sometimes we can get carried away and give gifts that the parents were trying to avoid bringing into the house. Gifts like Lego are great if they already are a Lego family and some families are not. Some families are not into Disney princesses or barbies and for some those are perfect gifts. Know the kids and know what the parents are okay with introducing into the family.

When you want to gift a need, ASK to make sure they parents/child need this item. Do they need clothing? or do they not want anymore. Do they need more art supplies? or do they have enough. Do they need more books? What do they need? Don’t just assume everyone needs new shoes or more markers. 

No Clutter Gifts

These gift ideas are here and gone again. Perfect for the kids who has everything or for the minimalist family. Gifts that will make the day special without the fuss of finding a place to keep store it. 

Balloons

Balloons are fun and don’t last forever. They make a day/week special.

Bubbles

My kids love bubbles they are typically a one afternoon outside fun. Nothing I have to find space and it gets them outside.

Bubble Bath

My little girl love bubble baths. I do not buy bubble bath regularly but they become great Christmas morning stocking suffer or birthday gifts for fun bath time. Bath salts, face masks, nail polish and lotions are also a perfect gift for older girls. 

Flowers

Those little girls feel so loved when given a sweet little bouquet of flowers! They light up when the flowers are for them. Household plants or garden plants or even seeds can be just as fun for your kids to take care of and watch grow.

Foods, Snacks, Treats

Candy, snacks, favorite foods are another fun gift to give. Be sure to make sure over sugar someone else’s kids and ask the parents if they have suggestions or restrictions that they give their kids when it comes to food.
side story: For my oldest sons first birthday his aunt got him a banana. He was so excited he cried when I tried to get him to open the next gift. We had to take a break and let him eat his banana before moving on with the party! It was hilarious and has become a tradition with our family to give a banana for the first birthdays.

Ice Cream Money/Gift Card

My son was so excited when he got a card from his great-great Aunt with $5 in it specifically for ice cream. He love’s going out for ice cream at our local creamery and it made for a great gift. 

Tickets to Events

Children’s Museum, plays, movie theater, aquarium, zoo are great ideas for experience gifts.  These are great gifts to talk to the parents about first. If you are giving the gift of an event or experience gift make sure its something the parents approve of. Also don’t leave out the parents from experiencing the adventure with their kids. These gifts are great for the whole family. Don’t take your grand kids to the zoo for the first time without their parents, unless the parents wish it. 

Scavenger Hunt/Treasure Hunt 

Adventure! You can make up your own scavenger hunt or treasure hunt that geared to your child or check out these 35 awesome scavenger hunt ideas for kids. Scavenger hunts can be so much fun for all ages. You can adapt you hunt to being in one room or a whole town. This gift can be very simple to extremely extravagant. Some treasures can be toys that they can keep or candy and treat that goes away when finished. 

Sidewalk Chalk

My two oldest boys have a great time and will spend hours outside with chalk. Making rocket ships, race car and car tracks, even numbering all 84 squares in the side walk to the corner of the block. Kids love chalk. A great gift that once is done its gone

Water balloons

Water balloons are an amazing gift in the summer. On a hot day the kids can have a epic battle while cooling down in the water. One used they are done. 

Less Clutter Gifts

Most of the gifts ideas on this list take up some space but not a lot and not always for long. Too much of a good thing can get overwhelming at times. When shopping for a minimalist family or a kid who has everything already, ask yourself if they will use this gift or if it will just become another thing to store. Giving from the heart is giving something they will use. 

Audio Books

For the younger kids who can’t read yet, audio books are a great gift. Starting that love for reading early can be done with audio books. Listening to a book in long car rides, or during quiet time/nap time while they color or play with legos is a great way to introduce a love for reading. You can get gift cards for amazon to use towards audible or purchase a monthly subscription for someone. For other audio books apps check out Everyday Reading’s review.

Board Games

Even with our 3 and 4 year old we like to introduce board games, even if we don’t play exactly by all the rules with the little ones we have a lot of fun.

Books

One of the best gifts you can give is books. Books form people and character. A love to read can produce a love for knowledge.

Camping Gear

If the family is a camping family then their kids will love items like a compass, flashlight, binoculars, or a magnifying glass. These gifts make the family activities even more special. 

Clothing

Something practical can also be special meaningful gifts. A sweet little dress, or cool new pair of rain boots can become a very special outfit when given from someone they love. 

DVD’s

In a world of streaming this gift my seem out dated but my kids love being able to pick out what they want to watch by looking through their DVD’s. I feel more comfortable that ad’s I don’t approve of aren’t randomly popping up and shows they are not allowed to watch aren’t an seen as an option. They also get to take their favorite movies to their grandparents and cousins house for fun movie nights.

Flower/Plants

Those little girls feel so loved when given a sweet little bouquet of flowers! They light up when the flowers are for them. Household plants or garden plants or even seeds can be just as fun for your kids to take care of and watch grow. The gift of flowers is also a great gift for older kids and even adults. This Christmas my dad got me money for two fruit trees of my choice. Now every time I water my trees I think of my dad’s love for me. 

Fun Money

I remember getting $2 dollar bills in Christmas stockings or for my birthday, they are rare and exciting and you want to save them instead of spend. My brother in law once made a treasure map and hid a treasure chest full of $3 works of pennies that his son and my sons (ages 4-5) got to split up between them. They love the adventure and 100 pennies is a lot of money for a little boy. 

Piggy Bank

Now what to keep your treasure in? A piggy bank! It doesn’t have to be a pig, there are lots of cute ideas out there. I personally like the ones that easily open so that my kids can count their money over and over again (homeschooling points) or the ones they can see through and see grow as they save their money. Kibelly Wooden Banks are a great example.

Photo Album

My daughters loves looking though my wedding photo albums and their baby albums. You can create personal photo books at Shutterfly, Snapfish, Mixbook, Chatbooks or even Walmart for less than $10. This year my kids and I made “cousin books” and gave them to our extended family. Photo albums are great for family that lives out of state, especially if you can get photos of their family and your family together in one book. When family is separated by distance its always a meaningful to see each other on the same page of one book even if not the same photo. 

Mail

Personal letters from you can be very special especially if you live far away or like to travel. Postcards, birthday cards, drawings and art can be very exciting to receive in the mail. Sending mail monthly can be something those kids can look forward to

Subscriptions

There are lots of wonderful creative kids subscriptions you can sign up for. Magazine subscriptions like National Geographic Kids, Highlights, and more. Activity boxes like KiwiCo, Little Passports, Highlights High Five and Lovevery. Something new every month that produces creativity and learning. 

Scavenger Hunt/Treasure Hunt. 

Adventure! You can make up your own scavenger hunt or treasure hunt that geared to your child or check out these 35 awesome scavenger hunt ideas for kids. Scavenger hunts can be so much fun for all ages. You can adapt you hunt to being in one room or a whole town. This gift can be very simple to extremely extravagant. Some treasures can be toys that they can keep or candy and treat that goes away when finished.

Art Supplies 

Acrylic or Watercolor Paints

Fun fancy paints for older kids a great way for them to feel older and take seriously their art projects. Don’t forget a few nice paint brushes that go with out fun paint. 

Art Paper

Water color paper, thick card stock, sketch pads are wonderful gifts for artists of all ages.

Coloring Books

Coloring books for any age! There are so many different types of coloring books out there I’m sure you can find something they will love.

Journal

A journal can be a great way to encourage creative writing or simple finding words to express yourself. For younger kids you can get a drawing journal or a journal with prompts. 

Photo Album/Scrapbook

You can make your own photo album as a gift or but a blank album that the kids get to fill in themselves. Print pictures for them and let them make their own memories.

Sticker/Sticker Book

Sticker books are a lot of fun and a perfect gift as long as the kids are old enough to know the stickers don’t go on the furniture. 

Science Projects

Like Doctor Jupiter’s Science Kit, or Stem Robotics Kids or a gardening Root Viewer Kit. There are lots of different ways to experiment and grow your kids knowledge while having a lot of fun! 

Sidewalk Chalk

My two oldest boys just spend hours outside with chalk, making rocket ships, race car and car tracks, numbering all 84 squares in the side walk to the corner of the block. A great gift that once is done its gone.

The post 31 Exciting gifts for kids, clutter-free, non-toy appeared first on Embracing The Home.