I"ve been experimenting this week with all sorts of different fun projects. I've been so blessed to be able to have stayed home this week. I am sad that this time is drawing to a close, but to be honest I am anxious (and nervous) to get back in the swing of this. Exspeically with all the crazyness that has been going on a work.
I was thinking about how much I enjoy fair week. I really enjoy the fair food. I really, really enjoy the fair fries with vinager on them. I've decided that's what I'm going to make for dinner. I'm going to dig out my mini deep fryer and see what happens. I already set some chicken out and I got this craving for a chicken wrap. Thus, I decided I wanted to make my own mayo. I didn't realize how simple and tasty it is!
2 egg yoks
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 lime, squeezed
salt and pepper to taste
dash of curry powder
1/2 cup veg. oil
Put the first 6 ingredients in a food processor and blend. Then you slowly add the oil and keep it blending. I wanted a 'bite' from my mayo so that's why I put in the curry powder. Keep it mixing until you reach a nice 'mayo-ish' consistency. It can be stored in the fridge for a week or so, in an air tight container.
I plan on making chicken wraps with my new mayo and lettuce. I might even add some mushrooms and onions. I'm pretty excited!
On a different note:: did you know that you can use equal parts borax and baking soda as dishwasher detergent? You can also use vinegar as a rinse aid. It worked out great!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Laundry Time!
My wonderful sister-in-law told me how she makes her own laundry detergent. I was so jealous! Detergent is one of my most dreadest items at the grocery store. Its so expensive and even with coupons I still despise it. So I decided I wanted to make my own! It was pretty simple, and once I started doing the calculations, it was so much more cheaper then buying it! You need 4 ingredients! That's it! This process took about 30 minutes.
Home Made Detergent:
1 cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda- this comes in a 55 oz box
1 cup of Mule 20 Borax- this comes in a 76 oz box
1 bar of Fels Naptha soap- found in the laundry isle
Some type of resealable container- a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. (I used a 20 Q plastic ware container with a lid)
After researching and looking at different websites, some sites say you can use any type of bar soap, as long as you shred it up, but I wanted to use this particular one.
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. While you are waiting for the water to boil, shred the soap using a cheese grater. Once brought to a boil, slowly add the soap in small amounts, so it can melt. I felt like this was the most difficult part of the whole process because my soap wasn't melting very well. I kept messing with my heat, turning it up, then down, then back up. Eventually I had all the soap added, and it was pretty much melted. I turned the heat down and focused on the next step.
Take whatever container you are planning on using and fill it 1/2 way with warm water. Add the soap mixture and stir. Add more warm water until you reach either the top of your bucket or plastic container in my case. I had a 20 quart plastic container that I found in my basement. I believe I made roughly 16 or 17 quarts, since I didn't add my water to the very top. Cover the container and let set overnight before use.
Once it has set, it should turn into a gel like substance. I have a wooden spoon in my laundry room so I can stir it before each wash load. I use 1/2 cup per load. On your husbands super dirty stuff, add a little bit of oxyclean.
Now is this really a cost saver? I compared it with the Cheer brand bought at meijer.
Here are my calculations. I like this part :)
Cheer @ meijer is 10.19 for 100 oz, and 64 loads. This is pretty easy math. 10.19 divided by 64 loads is .16 cents per load. That doesn't seem expensive until....
I am basing mine off of myself making 16 quarts, or 512 ounces.
512 oz divided by 4 oz per load = 128 loads
The cost of my supplies were $7.40 total. 1.39 for the soap, 2.89 for the Washing Soda and 3.12 for the Borax
That equals to .06 per load, cheaper right? BUT WAIT!
I failed to consider that my Washing Soda and Borax containers will supply me for quite a while. So here is ANOTHER way to look at it!
This is how much it cost me per batch to make my detergent.
Borax: 3.12 divided by 76 oz = .04 per ounce X 8 ounces per batch = .32 per batch
Washing Soda: 2.89 divided by 55 oz = .05 per ounce X 8 ounces per batch = .42 per batch
Soap= 1.39 per batch.
1.39 + .32 + .42 =2.13 per batch.
So that means to figure out how much it cost me load, I would divide 2.13 by the 128 loads I will get out of it and BAM that's .016 cents per load!!! That's 1 penny per load. That's better then any coupon!
I know I'm crazy but I think that is pretty awesome!
Home Made Detergent:
1 cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda- this comes in a 55 oz box
1 cup of Mule 20 Borax- this comes in a 76 oz box
1 bar of Fels Naptha soap- found in the laundry isle
Some type of resealable container- a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. (I used a 20 Q plastic ware container with a lid)
After researching and looking at different websites, some sites say you can use any type of bar soap, as long as you shred it up, but I wanted to use this particular one.
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. While you are waiting for the water to boil, shred the soap using a cheese grater. Once brought to a boil, slowly add the soap in small amounts, so it can melt. I felt like this was the most difficult part of the whole process because my soap wasn't melting very well. I kept messing with my heat, turning it up, then down, then back up. Eventually I had all the soap added, and it was pretty much melted. I turned the heat down and focused on the next step.
Take whatever container you are planning on using and fill it 1/2 way with warm water. Add the soap mixture and stir. Add more warm water until you reach either the top of your bucket or plastic container in my case. I had a 20 quart plastic container that I found in my basement. I believe I made roughly 16 or 17 quarts, since I didn't add my water to the very top. Cover the container and let set overnight before use.
Once it has set, it should turn into a gel like substance. I have a wooden spoon in my laundry room so I can stir it before each wash load. I use 1/2 cup per load. On your husbands super dirty stuff, add a little bit of oxyclean.
Now is this really a cost saver? I compared it with the Cheer brand bought at meijer.
Here are my calculations. I like this part :)
Cheer @ meijer is 10.19 for 100 oz, and 64 loads. This is pretty easy math. 10.19 divided by 64 loads is .16 cents per load. That doesn't seem expensive until....
I am basing mine off of myself making 16 quarts, or 512 ounces.
512 oz divided by 4 oz per load = 128 loads
The cost of my supplies were $7.40 total. 1.39 for the soap, 2.89 for the Washing Soda and 3.12 for the Borax
That equals to .06 per load, cheaper right? BUT WAIT!
I failed to consider that my Washing Soda and Borax containers will supply me for quite a while. So here is ANOTHER way to look at it!
This is how much it cost me per batch to make my detergent.
Borax: 3.12 divided by 76 oz = .04 per ounce X 8 ounces per batch = .32 per batch
Washing Soda: 2.89 divided by 55 oz = .05 per ounce X 8 ounces per batch = .42 per batch
Soap= 1.39 per batch.
1.39 + .32 + .42 =2.13 per batch.
So that means to figure out how much it cost me load, I would divide 2.13 by the 128 loads I will get out of it and BAM that's .016 cents per load!!! That's 1 penny per load. That's better then any coupon!
I know I'm crazy but I think that is pretty awesome!
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