WASTE NOT WANT NOT

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend, we certainly did. Elsie and I had a "Girls Only" shopping day (morning) on Saturday. Grandma came to visit and play with the babes. Then after naps on Sunday we ventured out to Disneyland for some fun and fireworks!

Also, during the weekend I did some major food prep for Vernon's meals this week. I make his food from scratch so it is just easier to have it prepared for future meals instead of dragging my tired bum out in the morning to steam and puree, which actually doesn't take that long since we invested in this little beauty.

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When I say "invested" I mean we found on Craigslist for $30 and it was basically brand new. This little appliance deserves its own post so I won't go into how AMAZING this thing is, but just know that I actually enjoy making his food because of this machine.
Back to where I was going with this post. When making his food I go through quite a few apples and pears. I core and peel them using the Pampered Chef Apple Peeler.

I have talked about how much I love this contraption in an older post. This leaves a perfectly good peel that I normally just toss in the trash until I remembered about Simmering Pot Potpourri.
There are so many variations to be used and will have your home smelling warm and inviting in no time.
Just save any peels from your fruits (apples, oranges, pears, pomegranate). Gather up your cinnamon sticks, whole cloves or whatever spice suits your fancy and simmer away.

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• Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add your choice of ingredients and bring back to a boil for a couple of minutes. Turn heat to low and simmer throughout the day. 

NOTE: Make sure to keep an eye on it and add water every 30 - 45 minutes so the water doesn't burn out. 


You can also just toss this together right before the hubby gets home so he is welcomed into a lovely aroma upon his arrival.

There are so many combinations and since it is by your own preference you really can't go wrong. Today I chose to combine pear skins, apple skins, cinnamon sticks and cloves. It smells like I baked a fresh Apple Pie. How disappointed Micah will be when he gets home to find out that it is only potpourri.

Tomorrow I will probably do apples, orange rinds and cloves.
What a great way to be Green and also save some cash on oil or potpourri right? Hope you all get as much of a kick out of this as I did. Happy Simmering!

Oh and while we're on the topic of new uses of possible waste, Micah got around to cutting down the tree that grew and was shading 90% of my garden that desperately needed sun to thrive.
Not only did he saw up plenty of firewood for the anticipated chilly nights ahead of us, but he made quite a few cuts of the wood for future tree stump pedestals I've been swooning over on pinterest. YAY!

oh the simple joys in life.