I have friends who have trained their kids to eat what’s in front of them. This is not my life. There are a few things that they don’t HATE and I can pull the whole “you sit there until you eat it,” but there are many foods that even if I force them to eat it, it won’t stay in the tummy long. Since the first bites of solid foods, my boys have been gaggers. I draw the line at gagging. We all have our weaknesses. Mine is vomit.

I asked myself, how did my mom get REAL food into us?

My mom cooked from scratch, or at least the “Semi Homemade” version with a can of this and that and a real meat and frozen vegetable.  There might have been a bunch of refined flour in it or a canned cheese sauce, but it had enough REAL nutrients to make it worthwhile.   But, all this food has been off my radar for almost 15 years.  Atkins, personal digestive issues, whole food eating, and the like, eliminated those recipes as anything I would ever cook long before my kids got old enough to have food opinions.

I re-examined my cooking priorities.

1. Keep out as much refined crap as I can.
2. Variety for me and hubby.
3. Get enough good nutrients in the kids.

I rearranged those:

1. Get enough good nutrients in the kids.
2. Keep out as much refined crap as I can.
3. Variety for me and hubby.

If my number one goals it to never soil my children with inferior ingredients, I look for certain types of recipes—things my kids won’t likely eat. If my top goal is to provide variety for me and my husband within our dietary restrictions, then I look for other kinds of recipes—things my kids won’t likely eat.   But if my number one priority is to get a particular nutrient down the gullet come hell or high water?  I end up with recipes that THEY like.  Heck, I would totally wrap grass fed beef in a refrigerator crescent roll and douse that asparagus in canned cheese sauce.  But what would Jeff and I eat?  I would just NOT WRAP some of the beef in crescent roll and leave off the cheese sauce.  How easy is that?

I started cooking normal American carby stuff for THEM and adapting for US.

Jeff and I could eat peanuts and greens for dinner.  We aren’t the picky ones.  But I WAS cooking for us and trying to adapt for the picky people.  THAT IS HARD WORK.  Now, I’ve reversed the formula.  Now I make lasagna…with WHITE noodles (GASP!), because that gets a whole lot of grass-fed, hormone-free beef and pesticide-free veggies into the kids.

When I make the sauce for the kids’ lasagna, I triple it.  Jeff and I have the pristine sauce over homegrown zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash.  A while back, I might have PLANNED spaghetti sauce over zucchini noodles.  But cook an extra lasagna with CRAP in it for the kids? NO.

Somehow altering my focus and making Lasagna with White Noodles for dinner, mine and Jeff’s adaptations seem like they don’t require any work.

Nowadays, I plan spaghetti, lasagna, pizza, nachos, awful stuff that would kill my digestion and my waistline and make a side version for us with some weirdo crust or vegetable noodle that only impresses people who can never again eat real flour.

But, I still have standards.

I require a certain proportion of protein in a food before it passes inspection. I don’t care how whole grain something is, if it doesn’t have enough protein involved, it’s out the window. Conversely, I tolerate a certain level of refined crap if it gets something high quality in the tummy.  But, goal number 3 is still on the list.

From time to time, I *try* to sneak in healthier versions to see if I can get a away with it.  Sneak whole grain flour in the pizza dough, buzz veggies in the spaghetti sauce, trade out white rice for organic brown. I can dream.  But, if people gag, I retreat to the refined crap to get the rest of the good stuff in the tummy.

And, I set limits.

You don’t get refills until the healthy stuff is gone. It comes as a set. If I give you a small serving of homemade bean dip and a small stack of refined, crappy chips to dip for lunch, know that once those chips are gone, you’re on carrot sticks for dipping. But once you eat the dip, if you’re still hungry, I’ll give you another serving of both chips and dip.

You “buy” the privilege to eat your food like a traditional refined-grain-loving American by showing me that the healthy stuff will disappear. If you cheat and only eat the bad stuff, trying to wait me out till the next meal, you lose your bread privileges at subsequent meals until the healthy stuff disappears.

Now dinner is simple.

It take no creativity to plan dinner.  There’s no digging through recipes for “something brand new.”  I do still peruse for a nice adaptation here and there for me and Jeff.  And interesting spice mixture, a different way to do the greens, but not full recipes.  And if I want to cook something wacky for me and Jeff, there’s always leftover lasagna or tacos or chicken pie for the kids.  And best of all, I can totally make them sit there until they finish without running for the towels, because I *know* it’s something they CAN eat without vomiting, they just don’t WANT to.

I know this flies in the face of all kinds of WHOLE food theories, but we moms do what we have to so we can get nutrient in the tummy, right?

Last week was GREAT! I looked through each and every link. I knew linky parties were fun, but I didn’t realize that they’d be my own little homestead library of projects. Thank you! Please send us more this week. Can’t wait to see what you made!

Deanna

Link back to us Little House Friday DIY Linky

I have spent HOURS on  this database researching all of the possible chemical formulations of dishwasher detergent and it has completely CHANGED how I make homemade dishwasher detergent!

Cleaning Power

1. NO commercial dishwasher detergents contain BORAX.

Isn’t that nuts?  I was so surprised.  I studied the chemistry and  I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a PROBLEM in the dishwasher, but I’m pretty sure it’s just not effective enough to justify the cost of including it commercially.  It’s much less effective than washing soda at water softening and raising the cleaning pH. This means it’s great for washing or boosting the cleaning on your fine china and your delicate laundry, but poo-poos for blasting the crap out of your daily dish grime.

Conclusion:  Borax is fine, but if you’re having trouble getting things CLEAN (which is not the same as deposits), replacing borax with washing soda will make it more powerful.  Don’t wash your fine china without it!

2.  NO commercial dishwasher detergents contain SALT.

It *is* a water softener, but it’s WAY weaker than washing soda.  And if you have lots of stainless steel, ingredients with chlorides are not recommended.

Conclusion:  If it works for you, great.  But if you’re having problems getting things CLEAN or getting spots on your stainless, ditch the salt and put in more washing soda.

3.  ONLY ONE contained any BAKING SODA

Baking soda is only half as strong as washing soda at softening water and doesn’t allow the cleaning pH to go nearly as high.   Like borax, it’s great for delicate stuff, poo-poos for daily dish grime.  And if you have a stronger product on hand, why dilute it with a weaker one?

Conclusion: Like salt, and borax, if you’re having trouble getting something clean, eliminate the baking soda and replace with washing soda.  Conversely, if you want to make your detergent more mild, toss in one of those.

4.  WASHING SODA IS KING!

Most commercial detergents at least 50% washing soda.  It’s twice as strong as baking soda or borax or salt.  Unless you’re washing something delicate, none of those three products add anything exciting enough to the equation to merit inclusion.  Washing soda is a super water softener and shoots the cleaning pH through the roof.

Conclusion:  Definitely a must-use.

5. SOME powdered commercial detergents use an oxygen bleach. 

Oxygen bleaches loose their poop after they sit for a while in water, so they come in powders.  But there’s no need to mix your own since they just break down into washing soda and peroxide.  If you have stained plastics, a slosh of hydrogen peroxide or a spoonful of Dollar Store oxygen cleaner will work just as well.  Borax has been touted as an oxygen bleach but it’s very weak, which is likely why it’s never found in dish detergent.

I only have the odd plastic piece that gets stained.  It’s easier and more cost effective to just deal with them individually with a bottle of peroxide than to fool with whole detergent formulations.

Conclusion:  If I have stained plastics, I’ll treat them individually with peroxide.  If you have lots of stained plastic and want it in your every day formula, the cheapest solution is to use the dollar store Oxiclean.

6. SOME commercial dishwasher detergents contain “SURFACTANTS”,

This could mean SOAP or synthetic NON-SOAP detergents.  Yes, both will foam in your dishwasher, but I think the key is type and amount.  I have done it with and without soap in the recipe.

Conclusion:  It’s up to you.  I like it in the mix.  Makes me feel good.

Now, Let’s Talk Sediment

7. Vinegar dissolves the salt deposits on your dishes. 

YAY!!!!  You can just put it in your rinse compartment, but I find that while it works fine on the glass, there’s still sediment on the outside of plastics.  The rinse compartment just doesn’t let enough out to get it off the plastic.  However, I have found that if you mist them with your spray bottle of vinegar, light sediment almost immediately disappears.

Conclusion:  Put it in the rinse compartment.  If there is light sediment when the washer is done, mist the dishes with a spray bottle of vinegar while they dry.  If there is heavy sediment, see the following options.

8.  FEW commercial detergents contain CITRIC ACID.

Citric acid helps take all those hardwater deposits and keeps them suspended in the wash water so they don’t settle on anything.  Citric acid is more often found in rinse aids and dishwasher cleaners.  If you are getting sediment on your plastics, this is where you can turn first.   It will work better in the rinse compartment than vinegar, but I have no idea how strong to mix it.

Conclusion:  Hurray!

9. CITRIC ACID reacts with WASHING SODA. 

As you add more acid to the mix, and decrease the possibility of deposits, you are neutralizing the washing soda.  This is why it’s more often seen in rinse aids, dishwasher cleaners, and other situations where washing soda is used.  To use it with washing soda, you have to overwhelm the citric acid with washing soda to make sure there’s enough left to do it’s high pH cleaning thing.   In the detergents I’ve seen, it’s at least 4 parts washing soda to 1 part citric acid.

Conclusion:  Use 1 cup of washing soda for each 1/4 cup citric acid.  If I still get sediment, I use more detergent, not raise the citric acid concentration in the detergent.

10. Almost all dish detergents contain SODIUM SILICATE

It’s almost 50% in some cases.  Many detergents are just 50/50 washing soda and sodium silicate.  Why?

• It’s fantastic for rinsing away deposits
• It doesn’t fight your washing soda like acid
• It protects the metal in your washer from corrosion
• It’s fairly hard to come by these days outside of commercial dish detergent.

This is what I believe is the main difference between commercial and homemade dishwasher detergents.  This is why some of us get sediments on the plastics, even if we use citric acid but get none with commercial detergents.  This is why manufacturers want us to use commercial detergent to protect our machine parts.  You *can* make it from potash and sand or silicon packing beads and sodium hydroxide, but it’s akin to trying to make your own lye from ashes.

Conclusion:  Bummer.

So, what to do?

• I would say, first try a spoonful of plain old washing soda.  Maybe add a little soap, if you like.  This is 100% cleaning power, no sediment protection.
• Use vinegar in the rinse compartment.
• If you get sediment, see  if it’s a matter of a quick spritz with vinegar just after the dishes finish.
• If not, start fooling around with citric acid in the detergent, maybe the rinse compartment too.

I have to use citric acid in the detergent, vinegar in the rinse, AND spritz with vinegar at the end.  Here’s my recipe:

• 1 cup washing soda
• 1/4 cup citric acid (Lemi-Shine original)
• optional 1/2 cup grated soap

Good luck!