Homemade Laundry Detergent

Do you ever walk down the laundry detergent aisle at the store and cringe at the high prices? Then quickly began scanning for the lowest prices trying to find the most for your money? Yeah that used to be me too. For a little over a year now I have been using homemade laundry detergent. It feels so good to walk past the detergent aisle and know I don't need anything. Of course I laugh and think suckers, you are spending way too much money!! Is it appropriate to approach a stranger and tell them about making their own?? Probably not a good idea, so I just keep walking with a big smile on my face.

I just made my second batch today, which ends up being 10 gallons. And since I am writing a blog about it, I should probably share my recipe. My mother-in-law gave me this recipe, which is the same recipe that the Dugger family uses (www.duggerfamily.com). For those you don't know who the Dugger family is, well it is a husband and wife who have like 19 kids (not for sure how many), so you can imagine they need to try to save money any way they can.

So here is what you need....

One time expenses ( You will want to buy utensils that you only use for soap - buy cheap = save more money)
1. 3- 4 quart soup pan (got mine at Goodwill for $1)
2. Large plastic ladle (Dollar Tree $1)- need long handle for stirring
3. Metal cheese grater (Gift - but they have them at Dollar Tree)
4. Measuring cup (had an old set I didn't use - works great for soap)
5. 5 gallon bucket with lid (Lowes, but I think you can get them at Meijer's in the painting section)
6. Funnel (Dollar Tree $1)


Ingredients

1. 4 cups Hot Tap Water
2. 1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
3. 1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (DO NOT USE BAKING SODA)
4. 1/2 cup Borax

What to do

1. Grate bar of soap into saucepan and add water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is completely melted.
2. Fill a 5 gallon bucket half way with hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda, and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover, and let sit overnight to thicken.

When ready to use

1. Stir bucket to mix.
2. Fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser (old jug) half full and then fill rest of way with water.
3. Shake before each use.

How much to use

Top Load Machine - 5/8 cup per load (approx. 180 Loads)
Front Load machine - 1/4 cup per load ( approx 640 loads)

Tips

* For extra soiled loads use a 1/2 cup to 1 cup of vinegar
* Soap will not suds much, so don't add more!
* Meijer's has all of the ingredients, but shop around for the lowest prices !!

Butterscotch cookies

As the mid-west was preparing for "snowmegedon" or "snowpocolypse", I decided to bake. In the event that we would lose electricity I wanted to make sure the apartment was already warm. Since our heat is all electric, I was preparing for a cold night. However, I was also really in the mood for some homemade cookies. Then came the big decision of my day...what kind of cookies should I make? Since it has been almost three years since I have had butterscotch cookies, that was the winner. Also, numerous friends of mine had shown interest in the butterscotch cookies, so I will post the recipe at the end of this blog. Hope you enjoy the cookies, I know I have!



Butterscotch cookies

1/2 cup Butter 2 Lg Eggs 1 1/4 cup Flour
1/2 cup Crisco 1 tsp Vanilla 3 cups Oatmeal
3/4 cup Br. Sugar 1 tsp baking soda 2 cup butterscotch morsels
3/4 cup Gran. sugar 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven 350 degrees

Mix softened butter, crisco, brown sugar, granulated sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla, baking soda and salt. Add flour. Fold in oatmeal. Add butterscotch morsels. Place dough in fridge for 10 minutes. Scoop tbsp size balls onto baking stone. Bake 10-12 minutes, until edges start to turn lightly brown. Allow to cool on stone for 5 min and then place on cooling rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!

Weight loss Challenge

For years now I have been struggling with my weight fluctuating. Before getting married I had lost a lot of weight and was within 20 pounds of reaching my weight goal. However, like the freshman fifteen for new college goers, marriage has enhanced my waistline, or I am suffering from spare tire syndrome. Either way to me this is not acceptable. I am only 33 and have the body and health of a 70 year old. So that being said, I once again am embarking on a weight loss journey. This is not merely a new year resolution, it will have to be a life style change in order for success. So, here's the plan...

1. Exercise - at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes to start
2. Meal plans - Nutritional meals and snacks planned out so i don't give in to just eating junk or going through the drive through.
3. Partner in crime - my hubby has unknowingly signed himself up for this plan too, since it must be a cooperative life style change. We too easily fall into traps of laziness, just wanting to "relax" after a long days work.

Goals:

Current Weight = X
Total Loss Goal = 75 pounds

1. March 5, 2011 - Weight = X - 25 pounds
(3-4 pounds per wk)
2. June 1, 2011 - Weight = X - 50 pounds
3. Sept 1, 2011 - Weight = X - 75 pounds


At first this may not seem possible, but I believe it can be done. Even if I do not meet the deadlines as long as I am working hard and losing weight than I will be happy with the results. Nothing is set in stone and cannot be altered, it is just a beginning. Without a beginning the end is impossible.

Canning Potatoes

I finally got to use my new pressure cooker! I have done some basic water bath canning, but now the possibilities are endless. Meijer's recently had a wonderful potato sale, which I could not pass up. I paid 90 cents for a 3 pound bag. The actual sale was 10 for 10 get the 11th free which I am beginning to see was a better bargain than I thought. Most recipes I have found say 2-3 pounds per quart, but I am getting 7 quarts from two and a half bags (7.5#) The only thing I can figure is they plan on more waste. I am using Yukon Gold potatoes and since the skins are very thin I have very little waste. Over all the potatoes were in very good conditon. I have chosen to leave some of the skins on despite all of the warnings to peel first. I did wash the potatoes thoroughly before and after cutting them into chunks. Needless to say I have more potatoes than I am going to be able to can up at this time. Since I live in a studio apartment, cool dark places are limited, but I think they will stay cool enough in my non-energy efficient apartment. Looking forward to opening up that first jar to see how they turned out.

EARTHQUAKE

Shortly before 8am, as I was still laying in bed, my apartment began to shake. We live two blocks from the railroad tracks so our apartment frequently shakes when the trains are going too fast. I remember thinking to myself "stupid trains, oh wait they are not blowing there whistle". I was waiting for a crash or a whistle, but the "train" sound faded. Not a train? Was that an earthquake? Earthquakes in Ohio are rare, but not impossible. So as I was doing some research today, there in fact was an earthquake in Indiana. The epicenter was approximately 120 Miles Southwest of me. How cool is that!! I am sure to anyone who had damage to there homes they would be thinking not cool at all. But from my perspective, VERY COOL! If you felt the earthquake, you can go and register what you felt at the following website.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/events/us/c0000x03/us/index.html

Have a great day!

Stinky Fridge

What makes a fridge stink? It could be rotten food, pungent foods, spillage of some sort and the unthinkable....critter. For two months now I have been trying to rid my fridge of a mysterious odor. Because of the odor leaching in to certain foods, I have been very careful what i have been keeping in my fridge and freezer. Thank goodness I have a deep freeze and have been able to keep frozen foods away from contamination. I have thrown out numerous items that I thought could be causing the problem yet the stink persisted. I tried baking soda, crinkled newspaper, vinegar, diluted bleach, and full strength bleach. I thought that maybe my fridge was getting too warm allowing foods to spoil quicker and the odor was venting into the freezer. Oddly enough after turning the gage to almost freezing in the fridge, the odor intensified. This is not a good sign. So today, I bleached the inside and the door of the fridge and freezer again. I allowed the fridge to set for awhile and all seamed to be going well. There was a faint smell of bleach, but not the mysterious odor from before. Fridge restarted and odor persists. Food was still out of the fridge so it is not any of the food causing the odor. My fear is a critter has crawled inside the fridge and died, and without taking the whole fridge apart i will not be able to remedy the problem. One last suggestion to me was to cut an onion and set it on a plate in the fridge. It supposedly will absorb the nasty odor in the fridge. Will post more on this method if it works. Until then I will be looking for a new fridge and hopefully will not have the same problem

No More Christmas Music

I AM SO GLAD THE CHRISTMAS MUSIC HAS STOPPED! It seams earlier every year that you can begin hearing Christmas music played in stores and on the radio.  Having worked retail for numerous years now, I have began to detest Christmas music.  Now don't get me wrong I do enjoy some Christmas music, but too much of anything is just plain bad.  When I hear Jingle Bells and it isn't even Halloween, well, this is very disturbing to say the least.  Not to mention from Black Friday on it is non-stop "Holiday Fun" on most radio stations.  Needless to say I was constantly switching radio channels and even became acquainted with some AM channels trying to find something other than Christmas music to listen to while driving to work.  That being said, most of you know that I am not a country music fan.  So logically i would endure the Christmas music before torturing myself with country music.   

Most radio stations have returned to "regular" programming which is a relief, but the anxiety lingers.  When will it be back??