Homemaker Monday: How I Unload a Dishwasher With 3 Under 3...

Welcome to...

Thank you for joining us! If you're new to this carnival and would like to enter your post, please check HERE for the rules and regs. (By the way, if you have been featured on Homemaker Monday in the past, your name is on my left sidebar. Check it out!)

YOURS: This weeks "YOURS" goes to The Blossoming Skillet for her post on chewy granola bars! I love making granola bars and the chewy kind are the best. Her recipe also happens to be vegan, so I'm definitely going to be trying this recipe this week and reporting on it next Homemaker Monday. The Blossoming Skillet has been featured here before, so let me just say thank you, AGAIN, Blossoming Skillet, for your excellent link to Homemaker Monday and I can't wait to try this recipe! For The Blossoming Skillet's entire post, click HERE.

Now for the report on last week's featured link. Jerri over at Simply Sweet Home posted a blog about foil potatoes. This sounded like a really fun meal for the kids so I decided to try it. For Jerri's recipe, click HERE.

First the 14-year-old girl diced up eight potatoes. Since we were going to be serving this as a meal rather than a side dish, she also cut up zuchinni, yellow bell peppers, mushrooms and onions...


We placed a handful of potatoes, a pinch of each vegetable and a little bit of salt and pepper onto a piece of foil, folded them up like this...


...then baked them as per Jerri's instructions. I have to tell you that these were delicious! For some reason I didn't think the potatoes would get tender enough in the half hour they were in the oven, but they turned out perfect, along with their vegetable counterparts. We added some vegan butter spread, sour cream, the 14-year-old girl prepared a fruit salad as the side dish and we enjoyed a simple, delicious meal...


One foil pack wasn't enough for the 17-year-old boy, so fortunately, the 14-year-old girl had thought ahead and sauted all the leftover potatoes and vegetables in oil while the foil packs were cooking. That filled him up and we will definitely be making these again! Thank you, Jerri, for your inspiration. You've changed my life for the better!

MINE: One of the hardest things to do with twins and a toddler around is to load or unload a dishwasher. I usually make sure to focus on this task while the twins are in their high chairs, but sometimes that just doesn't work out. If they are freely roaming around the house, when I open the dishwasher, it is like a beacon of hope for them, a large cave of shiny, colorful objects to explore and destroy learn from. Here's Hyrum as he begins the process...


...and Joseph joining in...


Of course, the toddler can't be left out, so he is going to show them how it's done...


Here is how one can deal with a problem like this:

Step 1: Remove the silverware tray. This is a potentially dangerous part of the dishwasher, as it often contains sharp knives. Put it directly on the counter as fast as you can.

Step 2: Quickly gather all of the breakable objects from the bottom rack and place them on the counter as well.

Step 3: Gather all of the breakables from the top rack and place them on the counter. Your counter will soon look like you never cleaned the kitchen in the first place, but remember that these are clean dishes that will only remain here for a couple of minutes...


Step 4: Do your best ot unload the rest of the dishwasher's contents, gently prying away various objects from the explorer's hands and putting them in their proper locations.

Step 5: Take the explorers off of the dishwasher door and carefully close it, making sure not to pinch fingers in the process.

Step 6: Shake the explorer's hands off your pants and grab the dishes you've placed on the counter and put them in their proper places.

Step 7: If you have one dishwasher, you are finished. If you have two, do this all over again.

Best of luck!

OURS: Okay, I can't wait to read YOUR homemaking posts today! Even though I'm not able to comment on all the posts I read because I'm usually breastfeeding, please know that I truly enjoy learning from you and applying your ideas to my life here in Mexico. Thank you for joining us and make sure to check out all of the other links below. Have a great Homemaker Monday!



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