MOVED BLOG

I haven't blogged here in quite awhile. I moved my blog over to WordPress

http://tbiggers.wordpress.com/

Homemade Laundry Detergent.

Today i made my 5th batch of Homemade Laundry Detergent. I wish i would have been blogging about this since the first batch in JUNE. But I didn't ...so i'll just recap here on today's blog. Lots of friends have done this before me and I've learned bits and pieces from them along the way and incorporated their ideas into my laundry detergent making. Thanks CARLIE for peaking my interest in this subject.



June 8th---I first read about detergent making in Carlie's blog and on her post on www.Acadianamoms.com. All ingredients I was able to find at Drug Emporium and Super One Foods.

.27c 1/3 bar-- Zote Laundry Bar--Shred half bar then process in food processor till fine..
.43c 1 c. SuperWashing Soda
.34c 1 c. Borax

Mix all together in plastic ice cream bucket. 2T per load

The total cost for one batch of homemade laundry detergent was $1.04.

RESULTS--this worked ok but i didn't like using my food processor. I also didn't like the pink stuff--Zote is pink and I really didn't care for the "citronella" frangrance. But the clothes did smell very clean and fresh out of the dryer. IMO.


July 15th
1/4 Bar Fels NAptha (for stain power) ($.79c/bar) cost for half bar (.26c)
1 Sml Bar Kiss My Face Olive Oil and Lavender Bar Soap ($2.75)

• Shred both with fine side of cheese grater then place in pot with 1qt of water and stir with wooden spoon till melted. Pour into clean mop bucket and add 4 qt of cool water. Stir well then transfer to old laundry detergent bottle. This gives you 1 gallon of detergent (32 loads @ 1/2 c. per load.) Add drops of essential oil for fragrance. I used Ylang Ylang and Geranium.
• USE: 1/2 c liquid per laundry load.

• Mix 1 c Washing Soda (.34c) with 1c Borax. (.43c)--Add 1T per load along with the above mixture.
• TOTAL COST--$3.72 per batch. This version was more expensive per batch b/c of the soap I choose but still $2-4 cheaper than what i was using before. The best benefit is that its an organic soap bar and pretty safe for us versus the whole bar of Fels Naptha.
  

RESULTS---While i had no problem with its cleaning ability ---i didn't like the two separate things i had to put into the washer.....sometimes i forgot the Soda/Borax step.

I prepared this Recipe twice.

October 15th

1/2 bar Fels Naptha (.40)
1/2 bar Pangea Organics (cinnamon & clove) organic Bar (3.50)
1c. Borax
1c. Washing Soda

1. Shred the soap and place in pot of water (2qt) and head on med low until all melted
2. In separate bowl mix together the soda and borax with 2qt water. Stir with wire whisk until completely dissolved. Set aside.
   
3. Once soap is completely melted and smooth pour into bucket. Add 2qt cool water and stir well.
   
4. Add dissolved Soda/Borax mixture to the bucket and stir well.
   
5. Add 10 drops Ylang Ylang and 10 Drops of Vanilla and 10 drops of Lavender
   
6. Transfer to large laundry detergent container using funnel. (the kind with the dispenser) Really big. Holds 2 gallons.
   
7. USE--1/2 capful (cap that came with the dispenser) per washload
   

This one is goopy as it comes out of the dispenser and sometimes i have to squeeze the bottle a little to make it come out so it needs to be shaken each time you use it b/c i think the borax/soda mixture coagulates at the bottom of the container. The detergent bottle i used has a nice handle on it so i just pick it up and give it a good shake then dispense what I need.


Please keep in mind that when making your own detergent you will not have that fresh frangrance smell you get from commercial detergents. You should actually smell nothing at all or a lingering scent of the essential oils you added. If you or your family tends to use alot of perfumes or cologne it may linger slightly even after the dryer step. But your clothes are clean nonetheless. If you smell foul odors IE: body odor then you should increase your soap ratio and add 1T more borax directly to your washer. You can also add regular Arm and Hammer baking soda to your smelly laundry loads which helps elminate odors. IE: socks and baby diapers, towels. Also.....for bath towels you are having a hard time getting rid of their odor you should add 1/2 c. borax to the washer and do a "prewash" cycle using HOT water. Then do your wash cycle as usual.

I have not stopped using fabric softener so i'm still picking up some of the fragrance from that so that my clothes CAN have that fresh clean smell. I use Mrs. Meyers Geranium--A green company as well that I feel comfortable using.

While the ingredients are not actually "frugal" by most definitions they are much simpler and safe than the ingredients being used on most of the commercial laundry detergents on the market today. The frugality comes in where i'm not buying Mrs. Meyers ready made detergent....i'm making my own. Still only costing me under $4 per batch instead of $8-9.

Are there other "green" and environmentally safe products out there that I can just purchase without having to make my own and still save $$? YES however i enjoy making it so until I get tired of it i'll continue to do so.

juneupload 295

juneupload 295
Originally uploaded by TessieBiggers

Savannah was teething this day! Having such a bad day that I took her to the park.

Trip To CC's

So...this morning we were able to get out the front door early! Yay. This is a major accomplishment for Savannah and I. Everything within me wanted to take this last week day of vacation and just stay at home but I had alot on my "to do list".

1. Go to Bank--still dealing with the PayPal problem!
2. Go to Dollar Store--few needed items
3. Go to Acadiana High and get a few items from my old classroom I had left behind by mistake.
4. Finally--the crowning JOY of this morning errand run is to go to CC's on the way home to get my MED Medium Roast with Caramel and HalfnHalf! $2.56 cents. A far cry from the latte i used to get at $4.25. I savor it just as much at only half the price and thats the beauty of CC's. They use this rich creamy Caramel sauce instead of thin syrup like Starbucks.

So....I accomplished everything on the list except for the Dollar Store because I moved number 3 to number 2 and on the way back from AHS Savannah was cranky so i knew she wouldn't be in the frame of mind to take her down at Dollar Store. Therefore, i headed to CC's then home.

We arrived at home and she was sound asleep like an angel in her carseat. So sound asleep that i was able to unbuckle her and take her to the house and put her in her bed and she never opened an eye! Then , with Annie following me, I headed back to the car to get my Med Medium roast with Caramel and half and half! Couldn't wait to get it come back inside and sit here and peruse my daily blogs and sip my wonderful creation...my CC's. Well....that didn't happen because Annie was at my feet coming back inside and i tripped over her and the coffee flew 3 feet away from me out of my hands and hit the ground splashing caramel goodness all over the concrete! Needless to say, I was somewhat disappointed. It was bad enough that I already felt a twinge of guilt by purchasing it when we are trying to cut back on expenses. But...I found 2$ in my classroom desk and thought it was perfect way to spend it. I'm left to wonder "God are you trying to teach me something through this?"

I came back inside got the mop bucket filled it withwater and then poured it on the caramel medium roast mess on the sidewalk and came back inside with my head hanging. I then fixed a pot of coffee and now am sitting here sipping that with plain ole sugar and half and half.

I really want to get rid of that stinkin dog! Right now she's locked in the bedroom because she tracked coffee (caramel goodness) back into the house all over my new hardwood floors so i had to mop before i could blog. I needed to mop anyways but it was earlier than i expected to mop. Now i'm waiting for the first half to dry so i can finish the other half. I hate it when i put my own footprints on my freshly mopped floor so i do half and half.

Don't Let Your Circumstances Determine Your Attitude

So...today was the last day of 3 days of teacher "in service". For those who don't know this is when teachers are fed information on how to best reach their students, what are the new goals of the school this year, how to make a difference, and so on and so fourth. After 8 years as a teacher I thought I had heard it all. But today we learned about something called the "Fish Philosophy". If embraced could quite possibly change the climate of the school. I'm praying that it is embraced because I'm ready for a FRESH injection in my daily Work life instead of the same old thing. Students need Fun, Hope, Encouragement, to Feel Special. This is the first program I've seen that really seems to incorporate that without seeming contrived.

• Be There
• Play
• Make Their Day
• Choose Your Attitude
  

This year marks the beginning of a new school year for me at a new school. This will be the 3rd year in a row that I am transferred to a new school. The first was voluntary but the last two were not. I must say with the first transfer that occurred last year I had a choice over two schools....one that seemed very dismal and like a prison as far as teaching "happy" goes and the second choice seemed much more bearable. Neither of which would have been a place I really wanted to go. I wanted to stay exactly where I was....COMFORTABLE! The year that followed was less than ideal to say the least. While I did make many valuable friendships...the job was less than pleasurable and I didn't truly enjoy my work. Then at the end of the school year, this past May, I received notice that yet again I was being forced into a transfer. The ironic thing is that the place I was being sent was the place I turned down last year that seemed like the dismal prison! . Fast forward to this week.

Today, I've completed 3 days of in service at this "prison" and I've learned a few things. It is NOT a prison, the people are wonderful, and I cannot imagine why in the heck I believed the lie that said....you'll be miserable if you go there. From what I can see I'll be very happy and able to impact my students in a way I've never been before. This is because I will have much much smaller classes and much more flexibility as a teacher.

So, yet again I'm reminded of a poem "The WEAVER". In this poem one's life is compared to a tapestry being woven by God. If you've ever seen a tapestry and had a chance to examine it you would see that the underside is a little messy looking and its not pretty at all but the upper side is the beautiful side. For the past two years I've looked at circumstances in my life and allowed them to determine my attitude. All I've looked at is the underside of the tapestry God was weaving. I didn't understand the things that were taking place and why it was happening to me! I was angry at the situation. Through this poem I'm reminded that though I see the underside of the tapestry it is GOD who sees the upper side and sometimes that's not revealed until he's ready. Once it is you realize He was in control all along. All I had to do is Trust and Obey. I could have saved myself a lot of strife by simply Trusting and Obeying. Now I am in a place that I know I'll be happier. So what if the circumstances of my transfer were "unjust". I'll spare you all the details of that injustice just to say this. It was meant to be anyway! :)

God is Good!

Whats for Dinner?

I'm always commenting on FB about what I'm cooking for dinner and my friends almost always ask for a recipe. So this is whats for dinner tonight.

Chicken A LA Crock Pot--don't know what else to call it b/c i made it up!

3-4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1/2 sweet onion sliced
1/2 green bell pepper sliced
3/4 c. chicken stock
1T cornstarch
1 can Cream of Mushroom--fat free

Cut chicken into chunks and brown in oiled skillet. Transfer to crock pot once browned on all sides. Throw in the onions and bellpepper and let them simmer in the skillet for 3-5 min then transfer them to the crock pot. Dissolve cornstarch in chicken stock and add to crock pot. Add can of cream of mushroom. Cover and allow to cook for 2 hours. 1 hour is fine if you're in a rush. Serve over brown rice.

Crash Potatoes

1. Boil 8-10 New Red Potatoes until fork tender, drain.
2. Preheat oven to 450 while boiling and generously grease a cookie sheet.
3. Using a potato masher mash each potato gently on the cookie sheet.
4. Sprinkle with lots of kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, & rosemary--not too much rosemary. Drizzle with plenty olive oil. Salt again. Remember these are potatoes...they need salt!
   
5. Bake for 25 min on TOP rack of oven until browned.
   

Steamed Broccoli with Cream Sauce

Cream Sauce

1. In small saucepan melt 2T butter, add 1-2 T flour and make a paste. Allow to simmer for about 3 min without browning. Add salt and Garlic powder.
   
2. Slowly stir in 1c. Warm milk. Allow to thicken. Pour over cooked broccoli and mix.