Laundry Bar Soap

Recipe and instructions are found here http://chickensintheroad.com/house/crafts/a-laundry-bar/

Homemade Laundry Bar:

Coconut Oil & Lard Recipe
lard — 16 ounces or 453.592 grams
coconut oil (76-degree melt point) — 16 ounces or 453.592 grams
distilled water — 12.16 ounces or 344.73 grams
lye — 5.191 ounces or 147.155 grams

Coconut Oil & Crisco Recipe
Crisco — 16 ounces or 453.592 grams
coconut oil (76-degree melt point) — 16 ounces or 453.592 grams
distilled water — 12.16 ounces or 344.73 grams
lye — 5.134 ounces or 145.538 grams

These are two pound recipes.

Birds and Spring Cleaning

100_9429

The other day when we went to work with Hubby, Grace got these pictures.

100_9433

I think she did a really good job.  Today was spring cleaning day at church.  Every spring we set aside one Saturday to come and clean the church.  Heavy duty cleaning.  We had a great time and the church looks and smells really nice.  We were hanging up the freshly washed curtains when I noticed how nice they smelled.  I commented on it and was told they had been washed in the homemade lavender laundry soap that I made.  How about that!

Here are a few random pictures taken today.

100_9461

This picture is looking directly across the road from our church.  See how green the trees are getting.

100_9448

Grace cleaning the windows.

100_9455

Steve cleaning the ramp.

100_9459

Not sure what Ross is doing.

100_9469

And they think we women talk a lot.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Busy

Hello ladies.  I had intention of having pictures to go along with this post but somehow managed to completely forget to take any.  Sorry.  Anyway, yesterday the girls and I attempted something new for us.  We rendered fat into lard.  What I thought would be fairly easy, of course, WAS NOT.  Things are usually more difficult the first time you try to do it so we are hoping-if- we try it again it will go smoother.  First off, we tried to do it on the propane burner we use for canning.  We couldn’t turn it down low enough without it going out.  Then we put it into the crockpots.  That went better.  We have 3 crockpots.  We filled them up and let them simmer for about 5 hours.  Then we strained the fat through a colendar and a cheesecloth.  We then had enough to fill 2 crockpots with fat and start the process again.  We finished last night about 8:00 P.M.  Long day.  I’m not really positive we did it right though.  I was probably about 14 the last time we butchered a hog and my Mom was in charge of rendering the fat.  I think I should have paid more attention. 

Then today we went to Jessica’s and attempted to make soap.  Key work, attempted.  We have made soap before with lard purchased from the store but not rendered lard.  For some reason, we could not get the soap to trace.  We finally just poured it into the molds and said a prayer.  We’ll see how it turns out.  We made regular lye soap and a laundry soap bar.  Even if it doesn’t turn out, we sure had a lot of fun doing it.  I’ll keep you all posted on the outcome.

Well, it’s been a long two days and I am tired.  I hope you all have a great evening.  God bless.

 

Update on Sell

Hello ladies.   I thought I would give you all a quick update on how things went today.  Not near as good as I hoped but I know it could have been worse.  I sold $22.50.  The rolls were the big hit.  I sold all of them and 1 bag of laundry soap.  No dishcloths sold or aprons.  Well, at least I know now what to take next time.  My friend told me I could set up anytime.  So I think next time I’ll make rolls and cinnamon rolls.  Anyway, I’m $22.50 richer than I was this morning and it really was a good day.  I got to visit with my friend and her family and meet lots of diffferent people.  I definitely will do it again, maybe even next week.

Enjoy your evening and God bless.

I’m Going Selling

100_6345

You all will never guess what happened yesterday.   I took the apron in to my friend, Retia Meade.  She owns The Book End, a local Christian book store.  She is the one who will be selling some of my stuff.  Anyway, tomorrow is a big day here in Floyd (I can’t remember what they call it exactly) but it is a festival of sorts.  She told me I could bring my goods in and set up a table in her store to sell.   AT NO CHARGE!!!!!  So I have been busy all day getting things made and priced and ready to go.  I have 17 bags of laundry soap, 10 dischloths, 1 set of cotton napkins, 2 aprons and 6 pans of homemade rolls.  Pray for me, ladies.  This is such a blessed opportunity.  My thanks to Retia for this gift.

Well, that’s all for today.  I have much still to get done.  I’ll let you all know how (or if) everything sells.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

New Apron

100_6326

This is a picture of the latest apron I made.  Remember last week, I told you all I was taking the laundry soap and some dishcloths to a local store.  Well, she wanted them to sell and she said she would try to sell my aprons as well.  I hope to take her this one tomorrow.  Wouldn’t it be a blesssing if some of my homemade stuff starting selling?  I hope to use the money I make from selling my stuff to purchase school books for next year.

Today we are having a new soup recipe I got from a blogger friend, who got it from another blog.  I altered the recipe a little to better fit what I had on hand.  The recipe is

Super Easy Crockpot Hamburger Veggie Soup

1lb hamburger (I used london broil leftover from the other night chopped into small pieces)
1 onion, chopped and 1 tbsp. chopped garlic
1 can green beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
3 cups water
1 T chicken or beef broth powder
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 can organic cream of mushroom soup (a brand such as Amy’s, found in health food stores)
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown hamburger and onions until meat is no longer pink and onions are soft. Add to crockpot. Add remaining ingredients, stir. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours. Serve with some hot homemade dinner rolls for a great meal.  I am hoping to do lots more crockpot meals.  The crockpot doesn’t heat up the house like using the stove does and it is easy (I think).

When I started making this soup, I realized I did not have any cream of mushroom soup.  I went on line and found this easy recipe to make my own.  I found it at CheapCooking.com The recipe is:

Make your Own “Cream of …” Soup

Whether you want to control the chemicals or the fat, making your own white sauce and flavoring it is cheaper and better for you than those canned cream of whatever soups.

  • 2 Tbs butter
  • 2 Tbs flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt (optional)
  • 1 cup milk

In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter. Sprinkle the flour over it and stir to incorporate. Cook over medium low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in the milk.

Cream of chicken

If you want to make a cream of chicken flavored sauce, use half broth and half milk. If you have troubles getting this to be smooth, try heating the milk or broth before adding to the flour and butter. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat, barely simmering, for a few minutes until thick.

Cheese sauce

To make a cheese sauce, add grated cheese and stir until melted.

Cream of celery or mushroom

To make a cream of some vegetable soup, saute 1/4 cup or so finely chopped celery, mushrooms, or onion in the butter before adding the flour and use half broth and half milk.

I am making cinnamon rolls for dessert so I guess I better get busy.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Flowers

100_2173

I thought with winter so hard on us, we could use a little summer.  These are from my flower garden this summer and I thought they looked very cheerful.  The girls and I did something new this week.  We made butter.   This was a new experience for us.  It was a lot of fun.  We collected cream from our milk, added a little salt, put it in a quart jar and began to shake.  No we did not have a churn, but it was not necessary for the small amount we made.  We had about 1 cup of cream to begin with and ended up with about 1/2 cup of butter.  Pretty exciting stuff.  I also made a batch of laundry soap this week.  We all went yesterday and got much needed haircuts.  Gotta look good for those Christmas pictures.  The weather forecast for this weekend is snow.  Perhaps many inches of snow.  I love snow!   Hopefully we won’t have to postpone our visit with Chuck and the grandkids.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.  The other morning our pond was completely frozen.  A goose was walking across it.  I ran to get the camera, however by the time I got back the goose was gone.  It would have made a great picture.  It’s time for us to start working.  School and all that fun stuff.  God Bless.

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑