Aug 14, 2009 | Uncategorized
I love granola. I love making my own. I haven’t quite found a recipe that I can go by all the time, but here’s sort of the ones I follow (combined.) I do improvise with whatever I have in my cabinet at the time.
6 cups of oats or more (I use what’s on sale, but Bob’s Red Mill are my faves)
1 cup coconut (today I didn’t have any)
2 cups wheat germ (sometimes I do flax seeds ground up or half and half)
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup chopped pecans
1 package of sunflower seeds (didn’t have these today)
1 cup of baby oats or wheat flour
1 cup dried fruit (more or less to taste, I’m allergic to most fruit so I use dates, cherries, or apricots)
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 cup molasses
1 cup honey
1 stick or less of butter melted
Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, (or whatever floats your boat)
Put all dried ingredients in a large bowl and mix. Then take a microwavable measuring cup and place wet ingredients in there plus butter. Cook til butter melts. You can use juice if you don’t want the honey/molasses, or part juice. Pour over dried ingredients in bowl and mix.
Bake at 350, checking every 5 minutes to stir, until lightly browned. (About 20 minutes or so total.) Just depends on how brown you like it. (I like my crispy to stand up in the milk!)
Store in the oatmeal containers!
*I’d love your input on granola. Here is a post to my
friend’s recipe. She is a fantastic cook!
Aug 13, 2009 | Green Living, In-Edibles, Recipes, Uncategorized
Liquid Laundry Detergent
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
a bit of tea tree oil (to cut the mildew smell front loaders can have!)
1/4 cup or so of Dr. Bronner’s Baby Castile liquid soap
4 cups hot water (first) then added about 8 more cups
**My mom pointed out that this makes a VERY concentrated soap. It does! If you use this recipe you’ll only need a tablespoon or so for each load. She uses quarts instead of cups of water in her recipe (same amounts of everything else) and it makes a not-as-concentrated recipe that you’d use a capful of a normal washing bottle. I am using the quart method now myself because the other was overflowing!
I mixed it in a bowl with a whisk because the washing soda (soda ash) gets hot when it gets wet. (Luckily I knew this from my pool or I’d have probably burned my hands trying to get the clumps out.) I did put the end of it in the blender and mixed it there to try and get all the clumps out. Here are more recipes.
Aug 11, 2009 | Uncategorized
Here is the update on the soapfront…
I ended up using:
Liquid Laundry Detergent
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
a bit of tea tree oil (to cut the mildew smell front loaders can have!)
1/4 cup or so of Dr. Bronner’s Baby Castile liquid soap
4 cups hot water (first) then added about 8 more cups
I mixed it in a bowl with a whisk because the washing soda (soda ash) gets hot when it gets wet. (Luckily I knew this from my pool or I’d have probably burned my hands trying to get the clumps out.) I did put the end of it in the blender and mixed it there to try and get all the clumps out. It will be pretty runny, not gooey like usual laundry soap. Here are more recipes.
Like I said before the Fels-Naptha soap really smelled perfumy to me so I didn’t attempt to use it. I found out it is made by the Dial corp. (and I’m SOOO allergic to Dial soap.) I might use the Castile bar soap next time if it’s a lot cheaper than the liquid (which I think it is.)
It filled up 3 of the 32 load HE washer bottles, and another small container I had. The cost to make it was a little more since I used the liquid, probably $3.50 total. That’s about what I pay for one 32 load bottle (with coupons/sales etc.) Not bad at all!
I’m doing a test load now! Me, excited about laundry? Wow! Now if I can just rig up a clothesline I’ll be set!
Some of the goodies I got at market today!
(I’m getting hungry- can you tell?)
peppers, heirloom tomatoes, fairy eggplant, honey, cantaloupe, okra, purple hull peas, corn, Danish cucumber, zucchini (all go good with cornbread, don’t they?)
Aug 11, 2009 | Uncategorized
Today is market day. I’m hoping I can get little dude awake so I can get there before all the good things are gone! We have missed the past three or four weeks due to rain or sickness so I’m anxious for some fresh veggies!
I’m also going to try a new recipe for making laundry detergent a friend gave me. I think it’s the recipe the Dugger’s use (and they should know laundry!)
Here it is:
You can use Fels-Naptha bar soap in the homemade soap recipes, Ivory, Sunlight, Kirk’s Hardwater Sastile, or Zote bars. Don’t use heavily perfumed soaps. I found everything at Kroger’s. It cost approx. $2 (for the liquid which is approx 180 loads for a top load machine – 5/8 cup per load – makes 10 gallons)
*And I usually use All Free & Clear which is around $3.50 for 32 loads (on sale!) That’s $.10 per load and the recipe is about $.02 per load! Wow! Hope it works.
Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap
4 cups hot tap water
1 Fels- Naptha soap Bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Borax
-grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
-fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of 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.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons
-Top Load Machine – 5/8 cup per load (approx 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines – 1/4 cup per load (approx 640 loads)
I’ll post progress and results later.
**Update! I just went to grind up the Fels Naptha soap bar and I am so sick. It has so much perfume in it! Wish I’d realized that before. Glad I didn’t start with it! I am going to go get a different soap to use (unscented!) Dr. Bronner’s bar soap maybe?
Aug 9, 2009 | Uncategorized
I found this on my phone messages!
