Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

HOMEMADE LIQUID LAUNDRY SOAP

1 Bar of Ivory Soap, Fels Naptha, or homemade laundry bar soap-grated= I use 2 cups grated homemade laundry bar soap
4 cups of Water
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
3 Gallons Warm Water

1. In a saucepan, bring the 4 cups of water to a boil. Add the grated bar soap and stir until the soap is melted.

2. Fill a large pail or container with the 3 gallons of warm water. Add the washing soda and the borax. Stir until mixed.

3. Add the melted soapy mixture from your saucepan to the pail and stir.

4. Transfer to smaller containers, or cover your mixing container or pail with a lid, and let set for 24 hours, giving it a few stirs during that time.

4. Use 1/2 cup to 1 cup per load.

I have found that 1/2 cup does most normal loads but for heavily soiled laundry I use 3/4 to 1 cup.

I got this recipe from http://www.themakeyourownzone.com/2010/10/homemade-laundry-soap-what-you-need-to-know-plus-2-recipes.html

February 16, 2013 1

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.

February 12, 2013 0

Homemade Yogurt

I got this original recipe from http://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/2009/08/easy-homemade-berry-yogurt.html#respond. I have altered it some to suit our tastes.

Homemade Flavored Yogurt ( leave the jelly out if you want plain yogurt)

4 3/4 cups milk at room temperature ( do not use fat free milk, it does not work well)
8 ounces of high quality plain yogurt (yes this is more than most recipes, but it works)
10 tablespoons of powdered milk
For flavored yogurt use:
1/4 cup of jelly or jam or 1/2 cup pureed sweetened fruit (I have frozen fruit already sweetened that we picked this summer)

Milk must be at room temperature! I measure it out and place it in a bowl that is covered for a few hours or heat milk to 180 degrees then cool to between 100 and 110 degrees. Once the milk is at room temperature mix together the remaining ingredients(these need to be room temperature as well) , including the jelly or pureed fruit . I find this mixes together best in a blender. I let mine sit for a while after blending as I did not want frothy yogurt. But if you are just making plain yogurt you can mix together with a whisk. I then fill my yogurt cups and heat for 12 hours. Yogurt makers are different. Adjust time according to your maker. Remove jars from yogurt maker, refrigerate, and enjoy.

December 12, 2012 0

Saturday

Today is a rainy day here in Floyd. It was raining last night when we went to bed and still raining this morning when we got up. I think it is supposed to rain most of the day. Julie and Grace have been watching a young neighbor boy occasionally. He will be coming over today while his parents go to a funeral. I think it is good experience for them and gives them a little spending money of their own.

I made several new recipes this week. The first one was kielbasa with cabbage and noodles. It was very good. Last night we got really adventurous and made mexican rice with homemade flour tortillas. I sauted kielbasa, onions, garlic and mushrooms to serve with the rice and tortillas. We ate our supper in the living room while watching a family movie. The girls helped me with the tortillas. There really were a lot of fun to make. A little time consuming but fun. We will definitely be making them and the rice again.

Well, I wanted to share the recipes with you all. We will be having homemade pizza for supper tonight using the pizza dough recipe I used last time. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

January 21, 2012 2

Homemade Laundry Soap and Bluing

I have just discovered this product. Some of you ladies may already know about it but I had never heard of it. You all know that I have made my own laundry soap for years. I have always had trouble with it leaving my clothes looking dingy. I would make a batch and by the time I used it up my clothes would be looking like I hadn’t even washed them. YUCK! Then I would buy a box of store bought detergent and use it up so my clothes would look clean again. Then repeat the process. So I was reading on line and one of the recipes was saying you could add bluing to your detergent. What? I immediately jump up to the google bar and type in, “What is bluing?” It is something you add to your wash to make your white clothes remain white. You can buy it online. Our local supermarket carried it. Can you believe that? I had never even noticed it before. Well, as of right now, I am thinking it is the best thing since sliced bread. I have been using it for about 2 weeks. My whites are still white. I think I have found my solution. Also when using homemade laundry soap, my towels usually become water resistent. They would not absorp water. This has not happened since I started using the bluing. YEAH! I hope this post doesn’t sound like a commercial for bluing. I just wanted you ladies to know, in case any of you have been having the same problem. I also bit the bullet and purchased some lavender essential oil to add to it. I avoided buying it for years because, well, everything you add to it makes the cost go up more and I wanted to keep it cost effecient. But I really like for my clothes to smell nice after they have been washed. I admit it. I like smelly things (good smelly things).

I also tried something new today. I made my own fabric softener. The recipe I used is:

1 cup baking soda
6 cups distilled white vinegar
8 cups water
10 -15 drops orangeessential oils (optional) or 10 -15 drops lemonessential oils (optional) or 10 -15 drops essential oils, of choice (optional)

Directions:

You will need a one gallon container.
First add the baking soda to the plastic container.
Next add 1 cup of water to start with.
Slowly add the vinegar to the bottle as the vinegar and baking soda will start to fizz.
Then add the rest of the water swirling around & cover venting the top a few times.
Last add the essential oil.
Add 1 cup in your final rinse cycle for each load but give the bottle a good shake to stir up the essential oil if using.

I got this recipe from food.com. I want to remind you all that baking soda and vinegar fizzes at lot when mixed together. Now, I knew this but for some reason I put my baking soda in and then just started pouring in the vinegar. HUGE MESS! My thanks to my darling girls who came to Mom’s rescue with lots of towels. Anyway just a reminder. I used lavender essential oil in mine, so now I have lavender laundry detergent and lavender fabric softener. My clothes should smell great.

Well, that’s my day. I hope you have a great evening and God bless.

October 21, 2011 6

Our Greenhouse Plants

Our plants are growing. YEAH! Today makes 2 weeks since we planted the seeds. I think they are doing really well.

The tomatoes and peppers seem to be the slower growing. The cucumbers and squash are the fastest. The broccoli and okra are growing pretty fast too.

Today is overcast and windy. The temperature is 60 degrees though so that is very nice. I have clothes on the line outside. We worked on school yesterday and then went into the library and piano practice. I found a book at the library. It is written by Ree Drummond. She has a blog www.thepioneerwoman.com If you have never been to her blog I am sure you would enjoy it. She has some excellent recipes and many interesting stories. The book I got at the library is about her and her husbands courtship and marriage. I think it will be very good.

Time for school. I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless.

May 3, 2011 4

Bread Sticks

One of the girls favorite eat out food is crazy bread from Little Ceasars, so today I decided to try my hand at making it. They actually turned out really well. They tasted very similar to crazy bread. I used my butter rich roll recipe for the dough, then when they were baked I brushed melted butter over them, sprinkled on garlic salt and parmesan cheese, and YUM! I think this will definitely be a keeper.

I thought you all might want to see our progress so far. The electrical is done, insulation finished and the drywall is hung. Hubby will start putting the mud on next week. Thankfully, he has some work for next week. This means the room will go slower but we need the work. I am glad to have it this close to finished. He estimates it will be finished and everything moved in by the end of the month.

This has been my major project all day. We decided to do a recipe exchange among the ladies at church. We ended up with about 40 recipes. We thought it would be nice to have them in their original form so most of them are handwritten. I arranged them into categories today. I have only a few that I need to find out who donated them. I hope to find this out tomorrow, then I will put them all together into books. This has been a really fun project.

Cooler temperatures have arrived here once again. We had a fire yesterday and last night however we didn’t need one today. Temperature is about 58 degrees here now with lots of sunshine, quite a brisk wind though. If you are outside, a lightweight jacket feels pretty good. I think I will enjoy some of that sunshine while we still have it. Enjoy your evening and God bless.

October 16, 2010 1

MaMaw Time

A picture of me and Daniel. We had a lot of fun playing together this weekend. It is very seldom I get a picture of us together. I miss you already, Daniel. He is a very active little boy so he definitely keeps Mommy busy. We are starting to thaw out a little here. The snow melted quite a lot yesterday. We probably still have about 10 inches to melt yet, but we are on the way. A small storm is coming through today with very little accumulation. Hopefully there will be church tonight. We haven’t met on a Wednesday night in about a month. I think our Friday Ladies Study will meet this week too. Our driveway and the hill at the barn are passable. We are starting a Beth Moore study on Esther. It is my week to do dessert. I am making something one of the ladies from our Sunday night study gave me the recipe for. Thanks Faye. It is extremely easy. You use ice cream sandwiches, line them up in the bottom of a 9X13 cake pan, cover them with cool whip, drizzle chocolate syrup on that and freeze. Wow! how easy is that and it is sooooo delicious. I can hardly wait for the ladies to try it. I really enjoy trying new recipes. Well, time for school to start. I better get busy. God bless.

February 24, 2010 2

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin growing in our garden

This year as a gift from God we have pumpkins. Quite a lot of pumpkins. We have decided to harvest them a little early as bugs have decided they like them too. The pie was made completely from scratch as you probably can tell. The crust is a very simple recipe that doesn’t require being rolled out. I like things simple. The filling recipe came from an old lady at a farmers market we visited years ago. If anyone is interested in these recipes let me know and I will post them. Today has been a good day. The girls played piano at church today. Grace played the special and Julie played the congregational. Big step for Julie-playing while others sing with her. They both did great. When I hear them play like that I think all that money and time for lessons was REALLY worth it. It’s almost time to leave for Sunday Night Bible Study at church. We are using John MacArthur’s study on the book of Daniel. It has been a very interesting study so far. The pie is for church tonight. After bible study we always eat(Its the Baptist way) Tonight we will be having a feast. Pinto beans, cornbread, onions, tomatoes, hot dogs, cole slaw, and pie. Who could ask for more. As I tell my oldest daughter, we really do study, the food is just extra. Gotta go and God Bless.

August 30, 2009 2