Homemade Laundry Soap

We go through a ton of laundry soap in this house!  I seriously do a load of laundry a day.  And I got tired of buying overpriced laundry soap in the store.  This recipe makes a TON of laundry soap at a fraction of the cost.  I don't have a break down because I had a brain fart and forgot to add it up but if you do some searching on pinterest you can find that.  And when I make it again I will be sure to do an update here as to the cost.  Trust me though, it is cheaper to make yourself.  And this stuff is strong so you only have to use about 1-2 TBL in each load.  It lasts forever.  And my 13 year old boy came to me the other day and said, "mom, I love the smell of our laundry".  Now come on, you know it has to be good stuff ;)

Here are the items you will need:

• Big box(4 lbs) of baking soda
• Box of Washing soda
• Box of Borax
• 2 bars Fels-Naptha
• Container of laundry crystals

The washing soda can sometimes be tricky to come across but I have found Walmart to be the best place to get it all.

The container you see with the finished soap was from Sam's and had pretzels in it.  I knew if I held onto those things they would come in handy.  It works for now but I will get a pretty glass jar to eventually keep it in.

Now you need to break down the Fels-Naptha soap.  I use my Ninja blender.  Cut the soap in chunks and put them in the blender.  Then let it do it's thing.  I have seen other people who use their food processor and some people will grate it like cheese.  Whatever works for you.  You just want to get the soap into tiny pieces.

Now the hard part....ready....

Dump everything into your container and mix!!!  Rocket science!

If you are really dirty you can add a container of Oxy Clean or a store brand Oxy Clean.

That's it!  And you have yourself a ton of great smelling laundry soap on the cheap.

Make Homemade Yogurt

I absolutely adore yogurt.  More particularly vanilla yogurt.  I eat it just about every morning with granola and some sort of fruit.  Satisfying, delicious and good for you.  Did you know you can make your OWN yogurt?  That's right, from scratch, making it more cost effective and definitely better for you.  You know EXACTLY what is going into your yogurt instead of preservatives that may be in that on the shelf yogurt.  Don't be intimidated.  It does take a little bit of time and it may seem like there are a lot of steps but trust me, once you make it you will find it really isn't that hard and the outcome is SO SO SO worth it.  I promise!!

In a nut shell:

• Heat up milk
• Cool down milk
• add a cup of prepared yogurt
• pour in jars
• Let the jars sit in cooler with warm water a couple hours
• YOGURT

See, not hard;)

First of all let me say this.....If you can get your hands on good quality, local, full fat, fresh milk....DDDOOOO IIITTTT!  You can use commercial milk but do some research on milk and the benefits of local milk.  And did you see I said use full fat?  Ya, because fat is what makes the yogurt thicker and creamier.  Using skim or low fat will not produce that creamy yogurt you are wanting.

This recipe makes 2 quarts and I love to keep mine in 1 quart ball jars.  You can make more but I find that the yogurt is best used within 2 weeks and this is what my family can consume.

Here is the equipment I used.

In the picture you will see a meat thermometer.  I actually used my candy thermometer instead which you will see in the next few pictures.  

Go ahead a place your jars in the dishwasher to get them clean and sterilized.

Next you are going to take 1/2 gallon of milk and heat it to 185-190 degrees.  Use a heavy bottom pot and stir and keep and eye on because milk will scald easily.

Once the milk reaches 185-190 degrees place the pot in a sink full of cold water or use a bowl with water and a little ice like I did.  You want to cool the milk to 120 degrees.

Once your milk reaches 120 degrees you need to whisk in your starter.  A starter is just previously cultured yogurt.  If this is your first time add 6-8 oz. of a commercial plain or vanilla yogurt.  I used Oikos greek yogurt.  Once you have your homemade yogurt you will just save a cup of that to use as your starter.  Trust me, you will make your own yogurt from now on ;)  Also, if you are wanting to make vanilla yogurt you will add about 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla at this time.  I highly recommend using real vanilla beans!

Just take a sharp knife and run a line down the bean and then use the knife to scrape out the beautiful vanilla beans from inside.  Smells ssssoooo good!!

I get my vanilla beans HERE. 

Once you have added your starter your are ready to pour the yogurt in your jars.  You may have some bubbles on top but that is fine. Put the lids on the jars and then place the jars in a cooler.  You are then going to want to fill the cooler with water that is 120 degrees.  Use your thermometer!  And you want to make sure the water reaches at least 3/4 the way up the jars so the yogurt will stay warm enough.

Close the lid on the cooler and let sit for about 3 hours in a draft free place.  After 3 hours you can remove the jars and put them in the fridge.  The yogurt will be noticeably firmer but don't worry if it is still jiggly.  Once you put it in the fridge and it cools it will firm up more.

That's it!  You made yogurt.  This recipe is so much less tart than normal yogurt you buy in the store and has such a creaminess about it.  

The little black specks are that divine vanilla!

And my favorite way to eat it.......

ENJOY!!

Starting the Garden

 It has been a lllloonnnggg winter.  Today was actually picture perfect with a temperature of 56.  And most of the snow has melted from the ground.  But alas, it is to good to be true.  Tomorrow we are supposed to get 4 to 6 inches of snow again.  Bummer.....

I can not WAIT to be able to work outside!  We have plans for a chicken coop this spring and I have already ordered my girls for  delivery in May.  I'll have more about that later but if you are interested I ordered them from My Pet Chicken and you really do need to plan ahead because they sell out of certain breeds fast.  Anywhoo, something I have begun working on already is my garden.  We have a community garden and last year I got a plot and attempted a garden there but it really turned out to be a big ole pain in the butt.  It was hard to keep up with and very hard to water because you had to get water from this big ole tank and carry it back to your spot.  Mine of course was not conveniently located to the tank.  So needless to say I did not produce a lot of veggie for my labor!  This year I want to keep it close to home so may just do some container gardening or built a couple garden boxes in the yard.

If you are going to garden you need to decide how your going to do it first.  Are you going to start with seeds?  Or are you going to buy the baby plants from your local nursery?  I like to grow from seeds because you have so many more options that way!  Of course if your like me you tend to go overboard when having so many options :/

So another important thing to know and look into is what zone you live in.  You can only grow certain fruits and vegetable in certain zones and also when you start your seeds or plant your plants depends on the zone you live in.  Right now in Florida they can plant anything they want.  However, here in Ohio, my ground is still frozen so I have to wait until the last chance of frost to actually plant my precious veggies outside.  Sigh.....  This is a really great Website to check out.  You can put in your zip code, a landmark, city or state and it will bring up everything you need to know!!!  It is a lifesaver!

Now that I have my seeds picked out and I know what dates I need to start my seeds I needed something to nurture my little seeds in.

This is perfect for me because it is no muss, no fuss.  Everything you need is right there.  There are different brands out there and different sizes as well and can be found at most any hardware box type store.  This one has 72 cell but it is actually 2 separate trays in there so I just started with 36.  They have one pellet in each cell and all you do is add water.  And poof....

Instant, perfect soil!  All you have to do is add your seed to each cell and then water.  It has a tray underneath to catch any excess water.  You put the plastic cover it comes with on top until the seeds start to sprout.  It acts like a greenhouse.  Keep them watered, in the sun and loved.  And I am or am not saying maybe talk or sing to them.  Soon......

Aren't the cute?  Once they are big enough and the weather is right they will go to their new permanent home and produce beautiful veggies for me!  

COME ON SPRING!!

Banana Bread

Yesterday was an icky day.  It was gloomy and rainy.  The good news to that is that it melted some of that white stuff I'm honestly sick of seeing and it got up into the 50's.  A small glimpse and hope that spring is soon to come.  The bad news is that it melted snow so quickly that we have flooding all over the place and sludgy, dirty snow everywhere.  Oh well, we will just keep thinking of spring!

I love, love to bake.  And really one of the first things I learned to bake was banana bread.  I have probably tried a million recipes.  And honestly banana bread is just one of those things that is hard to mess up.  It's a great way to use up those bananas that you bought because let's face it, bananas are pretty cheap.  And sometimes they don't get eaten quick enough.  I don't know about your house but for some reason my family avoids browning bananas like they are some bad science experiment.  They will however eat them when I turn them into delicious banana bread.  This recipe is winner.  Super sweet and moist.  How do I know?  Because I may have tried it as soon as it came out of the oven.  And possibly before I went to bed and then this morning for breakfast:)  I just can't resist a warm piece of banana bread with butter.  I hope you enjoy it too!

• 3-4 very ripe bananas
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup butter - softened
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Grease and flour bread/loaf pan
3. Mash up your nanners
4. In a large bowl or stand mixer cream together butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs and then add vanilla, buttermilk and bananas.
5. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then add to wet mixture.  Mix until just combined.
6. Pour batter into pan.
7. Bake for 50 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
8. Hide it from the husband and kids:)

Back To School - Breakfast Grilled Cheese!

Today is the day!  I sent my 3 older babies off for another school year.  It's so quiet here now and I don't know what I'm going to do with my time.  Pppshhh...yes, I do.  Catch up on my blog and waste many hours on Pinterest, duh!  Anyway, I wanted to send my kiddos off with a full, happy belly and when I came across this recipe on Pinterest I just knew it would be a hit.  And let me tell you...it did not disappoint.  How do I know?  Well, because I may or may not have indulge in one.  These by no means are on the healthy side so if you are watching your calories and sugar intake....STEP AWAY from the computer.  No really, don't read the recipe.  This is sweet, gooey, indulgent and everything perfect for my kids for there first day of school.  Will I be making these every day?  Of course not.  But for a once in a while yummy treat....this is the one!!

Here is how easy it is....

I used frozen home style waffles.  Home made waffles would have been amazing but hey, I was trying to get 3 kids out the door!  

Frozen waffles - 2 per sandwich

Container whipped cream cheese

Powder sugar

Favorite jam or preserves

Butter

Take the container of whipped cream cheese and add about 4 TBL powder sugar and combine.  Melt some butter in a fry pan on medium heat.  Take one waffle and spread some jam on it and place in fry pan with butter.  Then take other half of the waffle and spread with cream cheese mixture.  Place on top of first waffle in pan.  Grill until golden brown and then flip and grill other side.  That's it!!  I sprinkled the top of mine with a little more powdered sugar. 

These are ssssooooo delicious people!!!  Next time I think I'll add a side of bacon.  Because bacon should be served with everything!

Zucchini Lasagna and Homemade Clean Marinara Sauce

I'm a slacker!  I made this recipe like a week ago and am just finally getting it up on my blog.  I don't know why it is so hard for me to sit down a write on the blog.  Maybe because I have squirrel brain and am very easily disstracted?  Like I have 50 million things going on in my head and at least 10 projects going on at a time distracted.  Anyway, the recipe.....

You are going to want to start by making your own clean marinara sauce.  Trust me on this!!  It isn't hard and taste like 1000 times better than any jar junk.

2 - 24oz cans of organic petite diced tomatoes

1 can organic tomato paste

1/3 cup olive oil

1 whole onion

6 gloves garlic

Fresh basil and parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Start by chopping onion and sauteing in 1/3 cup olive oil until translucent.  Then add the garlic and continue to saute until you are drooling from all the smell goodness:)

Add the 2 cans of tomatoes, about 1/2 can of tomato paste, chopped basil and parsley.  Use fresh herbs if you can.  There is nothing compared and they are really easy to grow on a pot on your porch!

Let the sauce simmer for about 30 minutes.

While that is simmering you can get the other ingredients together.

2 large zucchinis sliced lengthwise on a mandolin about 1/8 thick

1 tbl olive oil

1 1/2 cups 2% cottage cheese

2 cups spinach (cook in microwave and then squeeze out water) chop

1/2 cup shredded part skim mozzarella

1/4 fresh grated parmesan cheese

1 egg

salt and pepper

2 cups(ish) of clean marinara

Cut the zucchini and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Saute in olive oil until just tender.  Set aside on plate with paper towel to cool.  In a bowl combine cottage cheese, spinach, mozzarella, parmesan, egg, salt and peper.  Mix well.  In a 8x8 pan ladle some of the marinara on bottom of pan.  Then layer cooled zucchini overlapping.  The next layer is some of the cottage cheese mixture.  Again add a zucchini layer.  And again a thin layer of sauce.  Continue layering again and ending with the sauce layer.  I then like to sprinkle a little more mozzarella and parmesan on top.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.  Remove foil and let set out for about 15 minutes.  This is important because zucchini has so much water in it this allows the lasagna to set back up a little.  

This dish is absolutely delish!  Gives you the comfort of lasagna but much better for you:)

Apple- Cinnamon Granola

One of my favorite breakfast eats is non-fat vanilla greek yogurt, fresh berries and granola!  It is simple to throw together and pretty dang good for you.  However, finding a good for you granola on the shelf can pose a problem.  Some are FILLED with sugar and preservatives.  Not good for you!  And have you seen the price of granola?  So what's a cheap, wannabe health nut to do?  Make my own duh!!  And that's what I did.  And I am sssssooo happy with how it turned out!!

Here is what you'll need to make your own goodness:

2 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (NOT quick cooking)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup raisins

Combine all these ingredients together in a bowl EXCEPT the raisins.  They will be added after baking otherwise they will burn.

1/4 cup local honey
1/2 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup ( I LOVE Walden Farms)

Mix all these wet ingredients together and then pour on top of the oat mixture.

Mix it well and then spread on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes.  Make sure you stir it every 10 minutes and keep a close, CLOSE eye on it so it doesn't burn!  When it is golden and crunchy take it out and add your raisins.  Once it is cool add to an airtight container and enjoy!

I hope you all enjoy this simple delicious recipe and would appreciate if you would share the love by sharing my blog on Facebook or Pinning this post!