Call me obsessed if you want....

I love provident living--I kind of take it to an extreme. Right now in my kitchen, there lingers the smell of semi-burnt homemade cornflakes (cornflah-KAYs--as I like to pronounce them). That's right, homemade cornflakes. They're a little burnt because I didn't add enough water/honey/brown sugar mixture to my corn masa. Mr Baker ate them anyway and I promised I'd get it right next time :).

Sometimes I wonder what Mr. Baker must think when he comes home and surveys the scene I have created while he's gone at class. Probably something like "I'm sooo hungry I can't wait to eat whatever it is and hopefully it tastes good enough to be worth all those piles of dishes that I'll have to wash ;)....why are there ziploc bags soaking in the sink and why does the shower smell different?"

My obsession with provident living began with a talk by Elder Robert D. Hales, an apostle in my church. He spoke about the importance of being more wise in the use of our resources, specifically money.

That talk struck a chord within me and ever since then I have been strengthening my discernment of what is important in life and of an eternal value over what is merely nice and convenient. Along with that I have also grown a passion for making everything I can homemade. I often joke with Mr. Baker that one day I might just write a book called "Flour, oil, sugar, salt-- possibly yeast" and I would share my secrets for making bread, crackers, CORNFLAKES, oreos, chocolates...everything you buy at the store made at home by you. I found so many good things as a result of this attitude. I eat healthy and snack less because if I want to eat something I have to make it rather than simply run to the pantry and shove it my face.

And of course there is the cleaning too....

I always feel a pang of waste whenever I through away perfectly good ziploc bags--especially if they've only held dry goods for only a few hours. So I started soaking them in sudsy water, then rinse and hang up on glass jars to dry and be reused another time---I told you I was obsessed :)

I don't even buy house cleaners:0. The yellow is the de-gunker, it's a simple mixture of water and baking soda (I need to buy more baking soda now). Baking soda is a great cleaner. If you ever find a ton of burnt on mess at the bottom of one of your favorite pots, then make a paste with baking soda and water and apply to your frustrated pot. Let it soak in overnight and you'll be amazed of what that stuff can accomplish. Some dishes require multiple jobs, but the baking soda paste does more than "dawn" ever does. The pink is for hard water stains and a glass cleaner. It's white vinegar and water, and it is amazing! Blue is bleach water, it's the disinfectant. I love the smell of bleach! I like using these simple mixtures b/c 1) they're cheap and easy, 2) I know exactly what's in them, and except for the bleach, they will not harm any one.

(look: me cleaning the shower --yes I move that fast lol)

Oh how I love homemaking.....

Especially when Mr. Baker comes home for lunch and eats my semi burnt corn-flahKAYs without complaint as I assure him that next time I'll make them better.

And then kisses me so much that my lipgloss gets on him (and even let's me take a picture of it--but probably not if he knew it was going to end up on my blog;] )

I think my lipgloss looks better on him than on me lol

...Mrs. Baker, Tschuss!