Garlic, Honey and Coconut Oil Cold Prevention/Remedy

The last two years within a week of my husband starting his Christmas job, all three of us seem to have come down with really bad colds. This has resulted in disturbed sleep and has made it much harder to deal with the change of routine and extended working hours.

This year we decided to be proactive in trying to prevent this so he and Little Girl both took a mixture of garlic, honey and coconut oil at least once a day. (I didn't take it because it causes me to spend the next twenty minutes in the bathroom because I feel like I'm about to throw up and anyway it's always them who gets the colds first and then pass them on to me.)

About two weeks in, I had the mildest sore throat I've ever had for a couple of days and my husband had a very mild cold about the same time. Right at the end of the month, Little Girl had a cold and slight cough for five days which did make us think that it hadn't been that effective but then two weeks after she caught it, the children she had caught it from were still obviously quite ill and all had terrible coughs so we concluded that it had had an effect after all.

How we make it:

1. Put 1-2 tbsp coconut oil in a jar and melt it either by leaving it on a radiator or putting it in a bowl of hot water.
2. Add 2-3 tbsp honey and stir in.
3. Add 3-4 pressed cloves of garlic.
4. Put jar in cold water and stir vigorously until mixture is emulsified.
5. Store in fridge.

Between them, coconut oil, garlic and honey have anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. From experience we have found that if we wait until we have a full blown cold it has little effect but if we catch it earlier it makes a big difference to the intensity and duration of our colds.

At the moment, Little Girl usually has one or two teaspoons a day and my husband has anything from one to four depending on how he feels and whether he remembers at the right time. It has to be taken on a full stomach because otherwise it makes you feel sick.

Since it makes me feel sick regardless of when I have it, what I usually do is wait until I think I may have a cold coming on and then I press half a clove of garlic onto my dinner plate before dishing the dinner out. Even though this is more garlic than I would have in a teaspoon of the garlic/honey/coconut oil mixture, it seems to be fine so I presume the difference is that it is more dilute when I mix it into a meal but obviously it is less convenient which is partly why I haven't been doing it all the time as a preventative measure.

Find more tips at Works For Me Wednesday.

Whoops a Daisy (slightly not using freezer stash)

Although I was supposed to be not buying meat at the moment due to my rather excessive stock of it I managed to buy a 2kg (4 1/2 lb) leg of lamb on Friday. It was reduced to £3.50/kg because it was going out of date on Saturday and that is a very good price for lamb (plus I didn't have any lamb in my stash) so I figured it was worth it. I cooked it overnight in the slow cooker so we could have it for lunch and then I made stock from the bones (also in the slow cooker) some of which I used for the spaghetti bolognaise I had already planned to make with some mince and liver from the freezer. We ended up with five meals worth of spaghetti bolognaise in the freezer (i.e. 5 x 2.5 portions) and a huge heap of lamb to use up before Christmas so this week's plan features a lot of lamb:

Mon: Ham and lentil soup from the freezer.
Tues: Lamb and spinach risotto.
Wed: Lamb, mashed potato (with parsnip in) and veg.
Thurs: Lamb pasta.
Fri: Christmas Dinner: Salmon and cream cheese parcels. Goose, sausages wrapped in bacon, carrots, sprouts, peas, potatoes roasted in the goose fat. Christmas pudding.
Sat: Same as Friday.
Sun: Freezer meal.

From the freezer stash this will use the goose and the sausages in bacon (both of which we specifically bought for Christmas obviously) and probably some frozen veg depending on what fresh veg we pick up. Other than the usual rotation of home made bread and fruit loaf, we shouldn't be adding anything to the freezer this week which will be good.

Menu Plan Monday (Operation "Use Freezer Stash" #2)

Mon: Chicken, potato, cabbage and squash.
Tues: Cheesy pasta and veg.
Wed: Veg casserole with lentils & rice and fresh salsa.
Thurs: Chicken, potato, cabbage and carrot.
Fri: Meatloaf, potato, carrot plus other veg as yet undetermined.
Sat: Same as Wed.
Sun: Freezer meal.

From the freezer stash this uses one chicken, 1/2lb mince some frozen veg and three freezer meals (Wed, Fri and Sun) but probably creates two or three 1/2lb portions of lentils and rice depending on the size of the soup.

For more details, you can click to view my paper menu plan:



NB. The start of the week is changed from Thursday because when we had a veg box delivery it was on Wednesdays so I used to plan Thursday to Wednesday.

Feel free to leave comments or ask questions.

Menu Plan Monday (Operation "Use Freezer Stash")

Mon: Pasta, Ratatouille, cheese.
Tues: Ham, potato and cabbage.
Wed: Ham and lentil soup.
Thurs: Spaghetti Bolognaise.
Fri: Ham, potato, cabbage plus other veg as yet undetermined.
Sat: Ham and lentil soup from Wed.
Sun: Freezer meal.

From the freezer stash this uses one gammon joint, some frozen veg and two freezer meals (Thurs and Sun) but probably creates two or three freezer meals depending on the size of the soup.

For more details, you can click to view my paper menu plan:


NB. The start of the week is changed from Thursday because when we had a veg box delivery it was on Wednesdays so I used to plan Thursday to Wednesday.

What's in Your Freezer?

Last week I finally got around to doing a stock check of my freezer. I knew I had quite a bit of meat but I was surprised my how much I have - about 17kg (~37lbs) meat and 3kg (~7lbs) fish. I guess I need to do some serious menu planning so that I can get it used up before I get any more.

Here's what I had when I did the stock check:


Meat
2 x 1.2kg gammon joints (I think Americans would call it ham but we only call it ham after it is cooked)
4 x 1kg gammon joints
4 X 540g sausages (breakfast sausage?)
400g sausages
750g pork mince (ground pork)
250g liver
2 whole chickens
3 x 850g turkey thigh joints
500g chicken breast
goose breast and sausages in bacon (for Christmas dinner)
Fish
1.1kg haddock fillets
400g mackerel fillets
1kg salmon fillets
400g coley
200g prawns
2 x 2 salmon fishcakes
Veg
1/2 pkg parsnips
1/4 pkg cauliflower
1/2 pkg sweetcorn
1 pkg spinach
1 chopped celery
250g grated carrot
Fruit
1 bag of foraged blackberries
2 bags of shop bought frozen fruit
3 bags of cooked apple
Homemade stuff
3 cups duck stock
4 cups mashed potato
bolognaise
pea risotto
2 x prawn pasta
veg soup
3 x veg casserole
bean and corn stew
2 x cheese and leek potato
random risotto
2 x apple crumble
11 cups baked beans
2 half loaves of bread
Random other bits and pieces
2 x pate
1 pizza
1 tub ice cream
1 packet of cheese cut into cubes
7 x 250g butter

Since then, we've used up a few of the pre-homemade meals (to make space for freezing meals I make with all that meat) and I've bought three packets of bacon, four bags of frozen veg, two bags of frozen fruit, six bags of grated cheese (I buy cheap pre-grated cheese and freeze it for use in cooking), 16 blocks of butter and two whole rainbow trout (which were reduced - this is how I have so much meat) all of which have been added to the freezer.

Currently we're still using up the frozen meals but from next Monday I intend to post menu plans of how I'm using up my freezer stash.

What do you have in your freezer?

Why I love staying at home #1

My daughter and I get to make a mess baking bread together.

Cheap Risotto Rice

In December I started keeping a price book. If you don't have one already, I would definitely recommend doing so - I did not really appreciate how significant the savings could be before I started.

It was very interesting to see how different foods compared to each other and one that particularly struck me was the huge difference in price between "pudding rice" and the special risotto rices such as arborio and carnaroli. The cheapest risotto rice was £2.16/kg which was more than double the 96p/kg for pudding rice.

After much unsuccessful searching on the internet to find out the difference, I decided to take the plunge and try out pudding rice in a risotto (pea risotto to be precise). I am pleased to report that the only difference was a slight reduction in the cooking time - other than that, there was no apparent difference. So if you like risottos, I would definitely recommend using pudding rice instead of the more expensive "official" risotto rice.

Menu Plan Monday #1

I've actually been menu planning for over a year now but this is the first time I've gotten around to posting one. We used to have a veg box delivered on a Wednesday so my plan usually goes Thursday to Wednesday and I usually plan it on Wednesday afternoon. Sadly the farm which delivers has had to fold due to a 55% drop in customers but this has coincided with a time when we want to use up various stocks and cook food for the freezer in preparation for our move so I have planned out two weeks going from 19th March to 1st April. Combined with what we already have in our freezer, by the end of the month we should have just over a months worth of dinners in the freezer.

Monday 23rd: Tomato rice with sausages (onion, red pepper, garlic, thyme, stock, olive oil, tinned tomato, bay leaves, basil, grated cheese and sausages) ~ 2 meals for freezer

Tuesday 24th: Veg casserole (whatever random veg I have around with some herbs and spices and tinned tomato all thrown in the slow cooker all day) with lentils and rice and possibly a bit of salsa (tomato, onion, sweet chilli sauce and lime juice) ~ 2 meals for freezer


Wednesday 25th: Spaghetti bolognaise (mince, lentils and rice from Tues, grated carrot, stock, tinned tomato, onions, garlic, Worcester sauce, basil, oregano, chilli powder, spaghetti, grated cheese) ~ 3 meals for freezer (bolognaise only)

Thursday 26th: Chicken casserole (chicken thighs, random veg, onions, coconut milk, black pepper, white pepper) served with boiled potato ~ 2 or 3 meals for freezer

Friday 27th: Tuna quinoa (quinoa, tuna, stock, onions, black pepper)

Saturday 28th: Lasagne (as spaghetti bolognaise except lasagne instead of spaghetti and also milk, egg, cheese and white pepper for cheese sauce) ~ 3 meals for freezer


Sunday 29th: Quinoa from Friday

Monday 30th: Cheesy pasta

Tuesday 31st: Spicy tomato pasta

Wednesday 1st: Cheesy pasta from Monday

Home Keeping Guide Cover

I've started work on my Home Keeping Guide remake and the first job is the front cover. I've done three different versions but can't decide which to use so thought it would be helpful to have other's opinions.

The first has a faded beach background:


The second is a silhouette at sunset for the background:


The third is the same beach photos as the original but it is the original photo rather than a faded version:


Please leave a comment saying which one you prefer and why.

Thanks.

Getting Used to a New Routine and Other Bits and Pieces

From yesterday until Christmas Eve, Hubby is working late shifts Monday to Saturday so we're having to get used to a new routine. Yesterday was rather disorganised but today has been better. I'm trying out a meat loaf recipe I found on New Life. I never made meatloaf before (I think maybe it's an American thing) so I'm looking forward to seeing how it will turn out. I did make a couple of modifications as I used lamb mince instead of beef mince and I'm putting salsa on the top instead of ketchup. The loaf is now sitting in the oven ready to cook and the salsa is made and ready to be added.

Last year Little Girl was too young to particularly notice that Daddy was around at different times but yesterday after bath time she was calling, "Daddy" and trying to go downstairs to look for him. I'm sure we'll all get used to it soon though.

A while back I read about the "box of beans" toy at Lentils and Rice and had been trying to think of something suitable for Little Girl as I knew she would love it but beans would be too small at her age. Today I finally thought of pasta so she spent the half hour before lunch time playing with a cup of (dry) pasta and three plastic tubs:

One last thing I wanted to share before Autumn is over is our Autumn table decoration:

It's not really an English thing to do but I've been reading about Autumn decorations on lots of American blogs and thought it sounded like a nice idea to mark the seasons so this is my first time. The stuff is actually on a lazy susan which is nice as we can turn it to face different directions and it makes it easy to remove and put back when we need to. Hopefully on Monday morning we will go out foraging for holly so that I can make a Winter one.

Sourdough Starter - alternative to buying yeast

I've been making bread now for over a year without having to buy yeast. According to Milehimama, it costs about 9 cents for two loaves. I usually make three loaves a week so over a year that would cost about $7. In England, the same quantity of yeast would cost me 17p for two loaves which would work out at around £13.

Instead of buying yeast, I use sourdough starter which makes use of naturally occurring yeasts.

It is very simple to make: Place a cup each of wholemeal flour and water in a large bowl (or jug), stir, cover with a tea towel and leave to stand overnight. Each day for around a week, add equal amounts of flour and water, stir, cover and leave overnight again. (I think my book suggested one or two cups a day but I only did half cups as I didn't want too much starter.) After a while it will start to get frothy and smell a little "beery". It will hopefully look something like this:



After a week to ten days, if your starter has become frothy then it is ready to use.

To make a 2lb loaf, I use two cups of starter, half a cup of water, a pinch of salt and around 1lb flour. I mix the first three ingredients together before adding flour. I keep adding flour until the dough seems about right. How much flour you need will depend on your starter so if you need a lot of flour and your loaf is too big for the pan, reduce (or even cut out) the additional water. If you find your loaf is on the small side then add extra water. After putting into tins and leaving to rise overnight, I bake the bread at GM4 for 1 to 1 1/4 hours before turning out to cool.

Once you have used your sourdough starter, you no longer need to keep it at room temperature. (You can if you want but if so, you must remember to stir it every day otherwise it will go mouldy.) I usually transfer it into a new container and top it up with 1-2 cups each of flour and water before putting it in the fridge. Either on the morning of the day I want to use it or the night before I get it out and add more flour and water to help bet it going again and to ensure there is enough of it for the next use. You may be able to use it straight out of the fridge but I find I get leaden loaves if I do this. I keep my starter in a jug with a plate over the top. This allows it to "breathe" and also enables me to see exactly how much of it I have.

Keeping it Real - Tour of My Home

Heather is hosting a "Keeping it Real" Blog Carnival of photos of what our homes really look like (as opposed to photos where we've cleaned or tidied specially for the photos) so today just after I put Little Girl to bed for her afternoon nap I went round the house taking photos:


First off when you walk in the front door, this is what you see.Those boxes are some of the boxes from Little Girl's room waiting to be sorted. The thing at the top of the banister is an old towel I keep ready for mopping up any spillages upstairs quickly.

If we turn right we come to the living room.

We don't usually keep a bookcase lying in the middle of the floor but yesterday the estate agent (who manage the property - we rent) sent someone round to paint the skirting board which needed repainting due to the damp proofing work in January. There's some more pictures of the living room from just after that work was done going from very messy to nice and tidy here.

From the living room, we go through into the kitchen.

Going clockwise from the bottom left is: the knife and chopping board I just used to chop the veg for slow cooker chicken casserole for tonight. A bin of car cleaning stuff because I washed one side of the car this morning while Little Girl was playing in the back yard. (I try to wash one side each week as it makes it easier than doing it all at once.) To the right of the microwave is the kombucha brew and an old margarine tub of bits of veg and tea leaves waiting to go on the compost heap. Our coats (only Little Girl's shows up well because it's pink) are hanging on the inside of the cupboard door but we keep the cupboard door open because we have our bikes in front of it and we wouldn't be able to get stuff in and out otherwise. The bucket under the highchair is drying and when it's dry it'll go in the cupboard with the bin of car cleaning stuff inside it. Finally my Home Keeping Folder is on top of the fridge with this weeks menu (which should be on the freezer door) sitting on top of it.

Looking in the other direction, there's some rhubarb and apples on the worktop waiting for me to either shuffle the food in the fridge to make space or make a crumble - whichever happens first. The grill is open on the cooker because I just used it for lunch and I am half way through the washing up.

Now we go upstairs. First we come to our room. Thanks to the painting downstairs, we brought Little Girl's main toy box up here so there are toys everywhere:
There's some "before" and "after" photos from last time I did a big tidy in this room here.

Last week's project was the bathroom so it is very clean and tidy.


Little Girl's bedroom has boxes everywhere at the moment but I couldn't take a picture because she's in bed so that's the end of this little tour.

Pop over to Heather's blog to join the "Keeping it Real" Blog Carnival and read other people's posts.

Perfectionism and Keeping It Real

This post is inspired by Shannon's new blog focus. It can be all too easy to give a false impression on a blog that your life is perfect and nothing ever goes wrong. It is quite natural to want to present oneself in the best possible light but in doing so, we risk perpetuating the myth of superwoman and deceiving others.

This is a picture of what our living room currently looks like:

I could explain the reasons for each bit of mess but that would be giving in to perfectionism. Mess means I have been blessed with a family to look after. Of course I intend to get it tidied up but I won't pretend it doesn't happen or that it is always dealt with straight away.

Today I made some bread. (Well I made it yesterday and baked it today.) For some reason I decided to test what would happen if I didn't grease and flour the baking tins first. I have learned from my mistake as this was the result:

My first reaction was, "Oh no! how on earth are we going to be able to use this sliced for sandwiches. This loaf is totally useless." But then I remembered how nice buttered chunks of freshly baked bread are so I took some of the random lumps and buttered them for myself and Little Girl:

It was delicious and I'm convinced that randomly shaped lumps of bread taste nicer than proper neat slices.

It can be easy to read about what other women get done in a day and think, "How come I can't get those things done in a day?" It is important however to remember that nobody does everything. Yes you can always make time for something if you think it is important enough but you have to prioritise as you can't do everything. We all have different talents and different limitations and it is important to accept this. Here are some of things I do and don't do:

I do cook almost all of our food from scratch most of the time. (This is probably the part of home keeping I consistently spend the most time on because I think it is important from a health point of view.) I don't however cook every day - I cook more than enough so I can just reheat on some days. I also freeze portions so that on the days when I just don't feel up to cooking, I have homemade readymeals in the freezer. When we are having company I often cheat and use the food processor to chop the vegetables. I don't grind my own wheat because it is too time consuming and noisy to do it using a coffee mill.

I do exercise but I am not always consistent. I was doing cycling for a while but this is not practical in bad weather because I take Little Girl on the back of my bike. I have bought some exercise videos but I have not got into them as I don't seem to have the coordination required to keep up with the moves.

I rarely go grocery shopping (unless you count popping to the local shop for one or two things which I usually do more because Little Girl enjoys it than because it is necessary). We get fruit, veg and milk delivered weekly from a local farm and I do online shopping from the supermarket every two or three months.

I did attempt to grow some token vegetables this year but they have failed/been decimated by snails.

I don't take Little Girl out to playgroups and such like every day. I do breastfeed, use cloth nappies and do elimination communication. I also make sure we spend time playing together every day.

I don't do the laundry by hand. I did this for a couple of months but even with my husband helping, wringing out the clothes was too much so we ended up buying a washer.

I do try to keep my house clean and organised but I can accept lower standards than I would like. When I was pregnant I was too ill to do anything (seriously - my husband even had to wash my hair for me) which resulted in a serious decline in the state of the house. This was very frustrating as I would be sitting around looking at things I wanted to put away or floors I wanted to vacuum but unable to do anything about it. I can see number of benefits from that time of illness and one of them is that it has made me able to accept not being able to keep things to the standard I would like which is something I would have found very hard without that experience.

I like to sew. I bought a sewing machine and have had all sorts of grand plans about making clothes but I have yet to make anything since my wedding dress three years ago.

I am prone to leaving things on the hob or in the oven and forgetting about them. (I really ought to buy a kitchen timer!)

When I read about all things other people get done which I don't, whilst it can inspire me to try to achieve more, I try to always remember that for everything they do which I don't, there is probably something which they don't do which I do.

If you have not already read it, I recommend this article at Ladies Against Feminism.

Decluttering

In the interests of decluttering (and also partly inspired by this post of Ginger's) Hubby and I have decided to rewatch all our videos and DVDs and assess them as to whether we should keep them. I typed up our criteria for assessing to help us and thought I would share them:

Criteria for assessing videos/DVDs

Does it:
• contain profane language;
• condone sinful practice (e.g. homosexuality, adultery etc);
• portray sin as not having any consequences;
• display more detail of things than is acceptable (e.g. sex, drug taking etc.)?

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like”.

Galatians 5:19-21a

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Philippians 4:8

I'd be interested to hear what criteria others use to assess what they watch.

Men and Women are different

Some of the comments on my "productive day" post got me thinking about how different men and women are. I enjoyed the process of what I did and had great satisfaction in doing it. Surfing the web I have come across dozens and dozens of websites about homemaking and they have all been written by women. Presumably they would not be writing about these things if they did not enjoy them.

In contrast, if my husband finds it necessary to do some household task, he finds it a chore and whilst he is glad to get it done, he does not take any great satisfaction or pleasure in doing or completing these things. I have never come across a homemaking website written by a man.

Of course I am making generalisations. There may be some men who enjoy these things and some women who don't and even if we do enjoy homemaking as a rule, there are always going to be some things we do not like (washing up in my case) however, this apparent natural tendancy for women to prefer these tasks compared to men seems to me to fit with the Biblical role of women as described in Titus 2 and Proverbs 31.

It's such a shame that our culture in trying to avoid "inequality" trys to pretend that men and women are the same and should therefore fulfill the same roles and have the same aspirations. As far as I can tell, this actually has the opposite of the intended effect as it implies that traditionally female occupations like homemaking are inferior and that women are selling themselves short if they "just" look after the home/children.

Wonderwash

NB for those who don't know, here are the posts about the wonderwash/how we came to be using one:
Living without a washing machine
Making progress
Wet washing

So far we've had the wonderwash for a couple of weeks now I think but I have still not made my mind up about it. I will try to do a comparison between the wonderwash and handwashing in the bath:

• It does get the clothes cleaner than I expected but I think that the work involved is probably similar in quantity to washing in the bath but more difficult because it is concentrated in turning the crank with your arm and it is harder than you expect.
• Possibly less water is used but this is difficult to judge as the loads are smaller and I usually find I have to do 2-3 rinses rather than 1-2.
• The loads you can do at once are much smaller which means you have to do more frequent washes and be more organised about it.
• Each load is fairly quick to do however because the loads are smaller I think it probably works out similar total amount of time spent.
• The wonderwash is enclosed so you do not have a steaming bath creating condensation everywhere. (Although I did decide I was washing with rather hot water so I'm trying to do it with *warm* rather than *hot* water.)

Actually, now that I've written that list, I would probably say that for the most part it is easier just to wash your clothes in the bath. I do think it is useful for times when you want to wash a small amount of particularly dirty stuff (like when we went to a friends house and Baby Girl crawled around the garden getting mud all over her clothes and managed to get strawberry all down her front because I forgot to take a bib) but for large quantities of washing which is of average dirtiness I think washing in the bath is easier.

Now that I'm using warm rather than hot water I've started using Brandy's method of washing which is to get in and stomp on the clothes. It's much easier and more effective and it makes me think of wine pressing. I don't let her climb in to help but Baby Girl loves to "help" with the washing mainly by throwing all of her bath toys in with the clothes:

Titus 2

"The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."

Titus 2v3-5

My husband and I are currently considering what exactly the outworking of these verses is. In particular, what is meant by "keepers at home"? The Greek word is οἰκουρούς. I know that οἰκος means home/house and my Greek-English interlinear new testament translates the word literally as "house workers". I have had a brief search on the internet but presumably it is not a word used in modern Greek as everything I found relating to this word was about Titus 2.

The reason we are particularly considering the outworking of these verses is so that we know how we should be raising our daughter in terms of her expectations of her life as an adult.

(I grew up in a non-Christian family and I was expected to leave home and support myself once I had finished my education. After I left home I worked for two years before training as a teacher. I got married just after my teacher training and we intended that I would work as a teacher until we had children. However in God's providence I was unable to gain a post and although I registered as a supply teacher I only got a few days work in the first year we were married and then I became pregnant and was too ill to work. Looking back I can see lots of reasons why it was better that I was not out at work all day and I am glad that things worked out the way they did. However even within the church the expectation seems to be that the wife would work (by which I mean being in paid employment outside the home) until they have children. I can remember getting really fed up that every Sunday I would be asked, "Have you got a job yet Susan?" as if the most significant part of my life was finding a job.)

So the questions we are considering are:

Does this list apply to all young women?

I would say yes but because it talks about loving their husbands and children it could be argued that it is referring to married women with children. However surely it is important to be taught about these things (e.g. that we should love our husbands and what is meant by this) before we are married rather than after? (Like if you were going to paint a room, you wouldn't just set forth and paint it - you would find out how to do it either by asking experienced painters or by reading a book by someone who knows about it.)

What does "keeper at home" or "house worker" mean?

In our discussions so far we have concluded that being a "keeper at home" or "house worker" means that the woman has the home as her priority. In order for this to be the case she would therefore have to be at home for a significant proportion of her time. Based on Proverbs 31 there is nothing wrong with a woman spending time on things which bring in money but this passage implies that such occupation should not take up too much of her time or take her outside of the home too much as this would prevent her from making the home her priority. Also we concluded that she is to be busy. She is "keeping" the home or a house worker. This means that she will be working hard at the aspects of running a household (such as cooking, cleaning, looking after children etc.) - not spending her days at leisure. Although it is possible to run the household with minimal work (and indeed many people who work outside of the home do) the implication is presumably that it is important enough that a significant amount of time should be spent doing it (and of course one can make a much better job of it if one spends more time). (At this point I want to emphasise that I am not attacking anyone who does work fulltime outside of the home but am looking at this in terms of how we should raise our daughter.)

What are the implications of these verses?

If the verses apply to all women, then presumably we should raise our daughter to expect to stay at home until she is married and we should be teaching her how to "keep" a home. It would be reasonable to raise her to expect to do things which would contribute to the household income (whether that is our household while she is unmarried or her husband's household if she marries) but not to expect a "career".

I would appreciate comments which might help in our understanding of these verses and also if anyone knows of any books or websites which go into this in detail that would be helpful too.

Yoghurt and cream cheese

Yesterday I made some yoghurt (with a little help from the slow cooker) and I set some of it making some cream cheese. Last time I left ot in the fridge but this time I've kept it out and I've also tied the muslin cloth up so the cheese should end up in a kind of ball shape rather then a thin layer I have to scrape off. If it goes to plan, I'll post some pictures.