Homemade Laundry Soap

Ok. I know we tend to do food recipes on this blog, but I'm pretty excited about doing things cheaply. I am so excited about my Laundry Soap, I just wanted to share it with you. So once again... DON'T EAT THIS RECIPE :)

I'll admit it. The first time I ever heard about making your own laundry soap, I felt like it was over-the-top weird. Hippie-ish. Part of it intrigued me, mainly because of the cost, but I still had many questions, such as will it work as good as the "real" stuff?

Before hearing about making my own laundry soap, I had dabbled in other homemade experiments like homemade febreeze, carpet cleaners, shower scrubs, etc and had GREAT results. Every time I would try to make something new to test it out, I would be pleasantly surprised and even shocked at the great results. To be honest, laundry soap was something I was willing to try, but to afraid to act on. If I thought it was weird, what would people think about me? That same week my mom excitedly told me about how she made her own homemade laundry soap and how amazing it was. That's when I knew I just HAD to try it!

I started with some basic recipes that didn't have a scent, but I missed having my good smells. I love the smell of freshly washed sheets bathed in Downy. Well, it's not bathed in Downy but that smell sure lasts a while! So the only disappointing thing about my laundry soap was lack of smell. Then I heard about Purex Crystals and gave them a try. They smelled pretty good but had weird smells in comparison to other brands. That's when I recently discovered Downy Unstopables! I bought a bottle right away and ran home to make a batch of laundry soap.

This smell is amazing!

It has changed my life! So here is my little recipe:

For anyone wondering, I bought my glass jar at Hobby Lobby.

Laundry Soap
1 bar Fels Naptha Soap (found in the laundry aisle)
1 cup Borax (found in the laundry aisle)
1 cup Washing Soda (found in the laundry aisle)
1 cup Downy Unstopables (found near fabric softeners)
Note: If you want a stronger laundry smell, add more Downy Unstopables to your laundry soap.

Directions:
1. Grate the bar of soap with a cheese grater.
2. Put Borax and Washing Soda into a food processor. Put Downy Unstopables and the grated soap on top. Run the food processor until the grated soap turns into a more powdered consistency.
3. Put this mixture into a container. Use 1-2 TBS per load of laundry. If I want a stronger smell for a specific load, I will put 2 TBS in the load.

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

I know there is another blueberry muffin recipe on this blog, but this is my go-to recipe. Everything about this is easy and delicious. This recipe has a crumble that you can choose to use or not, that's your choice. I've also used other fruits with this recipe and have gotten great results! Easy, Adaptable, and I can make it as sugary as I want-- Awesome!

As you can tell, I chose to not have the crumble on it this time.

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners

2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture. 

3. To make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs

This particular recipe was inspired by the fact that I had ground turkey that needed to be used up. My husband wasn't home, we were needing dinner on the table as soon as he did get home. I was so excited to make this recipe the first time that I made it about 4 hours in advance of our actual dinner time. I know, this is probably weird to some people that I'm THIS excited about food. But it's true. I'm stoked with trying some of my new, possibly weird ideas.

Tonight was my second time at making Turkey Meatballs and it was even more of a success than before! But first, let's talk about spaghetti sauce. Spaghetti Sauce, if you have the different herbs (or even just Italian Seasoning), is the easiest sauce to just wing it. You can pour practically anything Italian sounding into it and walk away with something that rivals the canned stuff in the stores. The real fun of it all, is that it really doesn't cost too much to make.

Spaghetti Sauce (based on my memory of tonight's fun kitchen adventures)

Ingredients

1 can Tomato Sauce

1 can Diced Tomatoes (if you are not a fan of big tomatoes in your spaghetti, just add another can of Tomato sauce, or stick the can of diced tomatoes in a food processor). 

Italian Seasoning

1 Bay Leaf (kind of important in my opinion)

Rosemary

Marjoram 

Basil

1/4 tsp Sea Salt

1-2 tsp Garlic Salt

1/8tsp Red Pepper Flakes

These were all my ingredients in tonight's dinner. I really felt that the garlic salt (because I didn't have any garlic cloves) as well as the red pepper flakes MADE the meal. Note that not all of the ingredients have amounts to add near it. Here are a few secrets:

1. The spaghetti sauce is BEST if you start it before everything else. Add the different ingredients, being mindful that the longer it cooks the stronger the flavors. 

2. You don't have to add a lot, but if you add a little bit and it isn't to your liking you can just add more. When you start it, put your stove on low. 

Go ahead... Wing it. Make it a memorable spaghetti sauce that you can be proud of!

Turkey Meatballs

1lb Ground Turkey

3-4 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese (I used the powdered kind. If I had the grated kind, I would probably add more)

1 teaspoon Black Pepper

2 pieces of bread buttered with just a hint of Garlic Salt, broil till browned.

1/8t Red Pepper Flakes

3-4 Tablespoons of Italian Seasoning

Mix all of the ingredients together. I put mine in my handy dandy KitchenAid Mixer and used the paddle attachment. I also took half of the Turkey Mixture, rolled them up into 1 inch balls, and flash froze them to be used at a later time. With the remaining Turkey Mixture, I rolled them up into 1 inch balls and I put enough oil in the bottom of a pan to fry the meatballs in. You don't want too much because then it's all oily and doesn't seem to cook too well. You want the oil to be shallow in your pan (maybe 1/2 cup for a huge pan?). I'd suggest medium or medium-low heat. If it's too hot, then you run the risk of oil popping everywhere. Put the meatballs in the pan and allow them to cook until they are browned on the outside (making sure to turn them over with tongs so they don't burn) and done in the middle. When I was done cooking the meatballs, (I dabbed the oil off of them with a paper towel) I put them into my spaghetti sauce and allowed them to simmer a little longer. 

Put over the noodles of your choice and prepare yourself for an incredible ride through tomato and garlic-y goodness!

Apple Crisp

This Morning I had grand plans for making Apple Crisp for breakfast. Little did I know, it takes longer than I had to make it. I ended up making it for a yummy snack for later in our day. Look at this beauty!

Even just gazing at that picture makes my mouth water! This was super easy to make and it made my house smell so good with its cinnamon and apple and brown sugary goodness. So, if you need to make your house smell good or you just plain want your taste buds to thank you, try this recipe. The original recipe is found HERE! You can also find it below.

Apple Crisp
Ingredients:
10 Cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup water
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350* F (175 degree C).
2. Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, and ground cinnamon together. Sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly all over.
3. Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
4. Bake at 350* F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.

Simple and Easy Artisan Bread

I enjoy Pinterest. Every now and then I find something yummy or even a genius idea. Yesterday was a mixture of both.

Look at this yummy goodness!!

Ok... let me explain why this is so exciting. I am NOT a sandwich person. The only way I'll eat a sandwich is if I have it on a French Roll that you can buy from the bakery section at your local grocery store. I think they're divine! The bad part about these rolls is that my husband loves them as well. We'll go to Winco, buy a bag of 24 rolls and eat them in the matter of 2 days (or less). So for us, those rolls are REALLY expensive! Plus, whether we go to Safeway or Winco, the bread only lasts so long before it's dry or even growing.

When I discovered THIS RECIPE, a light went on and my world changed. It's a really easy recipe to make. I divided my batch into fourths, but I think next time I'll divide it into six pieces. We got some really big "sandwich" bread out of this batch. Let me just share this. This recipe is a fantastic substitute for the storebought stuff. It's fresh, it's quite tasty (though tastes different than store bought), and it's filling. My husband ate a sandwich yesterday at about 4 and was full enough to not eat something after he got home late last night. I count this as a success!

Do yourself a favor and make yourself a sandwich with this bread. It's best with some ham and mustard (that's what I've tried so far).

Enjoy!

Oven Tacos

I have an addiction. It's to tacos. I could eat tacos for 3 meals a day (I've done this before). I think tacos are so amazing because they can be made a million different tasty ways! If you're in the mood for something a little different make these!

Ingredients:
12 hard taco shells
1 lb hamburger meat, browned and seasoned the way you like it. (I tend to do without seasoning)
1 can of refried beans
Cheese
Additional toppings that you enjoy

In a saucepan mix the hamburger meat and refried beans together until the refried beans are heated up. Scoop the mixture into the hard taco shells, top with meat. Bake at 400* until the cheese is melted.

When done, add the additional toppings that you enjoy!

Cake Mix Cookies & Cheater Sugar Cookies

Welcome to 2013! What a year 2012 was!

Some people might be all sugar/junk food-ed out, I am not one of these people. I'm always fighting that monster called a Sweet Tooth. Well, actually, I don't do as much "fighting" as I do "embracing." Love that beast! If you're like me... you might be looking for your next "fix." Here's an easy cookie recipe to hook you up. 

Cake Mix Cookies

1 package of cake mix (any flavor)

1 large egg

1/4 cup of oil

1/4 cup of water

1 cup of chopped nuts, raisins, oatmeal, coconut, chocolate chips, M&M'S® etc. (anything you like in cookies)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

 

Combine cake mix, egg, oil, and water. Beat until well blended. Stir in remaining ingredient (s).

Drop by teaspoon about 1 inch apart onto greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until done.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies. 

To make Cheater Sugar Cookies use a white cake mix and don't add any extras (unless it's sprinkles. Sprinkles could be pretty fun). 

* To make an easy-to-grab snack, make up the cookie dough and freeze it. You can do this by putting the dough into wax paper and wrap it up like it's a hard piece of wrapped candy. Put the wax paper rolled "candy" into labeled freezer bags and freeze. When someone randomly shows up, grab out some wax paper rolls and spoon dough onto a cookie sheet and bake until done. Guests will think you're as awesome as Superman! (Or Spiderman or Wonder Woman... you get the idea.)