Saturday, May 30, 2009

Homemade Laundry Soap

Sunlight Soap Advert a String of Women Admire the Results Displayed on a Very Long Washing Line
Sunlight Soap Advert a String of Women Admire the Results Displayed on a Very Long Washing Line


I always feel like a happy homemaker when I'm stirring this and smelling it cooking on the stove. It also reminds me of Granny on the Beverly Hillbilly's :)

Momma’s Liquid Laundry Detergent

1 whole bar of Soap
(Ivory, Dial, Fels-Naptha)
1 cup Washing soda
1 cup Borax Powder
2 gallon bucket

Grate soap and put into heavy metal pot
Add 6 cups water and heat on medium until it melts…
stirring occasionally
Add Washing Soda and Borax and stir until dissolved
Remove from heat

Pour 6 cups hot tap water into a bucket
Add Soap mixture and stir
Add 1 gallon and 6 cups of water and stir
Let the soap sit for 24 hours and it will gel

* May add ½ to 1 ounce of essential or fragrance oil

Use ½ cup per load

TIPS

I use the blue bar of Dial for men. Keep in mind the one you choose will affect the smell and color of your finished product
(it smells like the laundry soap in Germany)

The final product will smell and be the same color as the bar of soap, if you want anti-bacterial properties use that kind of bar soap or add citrus essential oil at the end…orange or grapefruit or lemon or lavender)


Happy Laundering!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Reusabel Zip Lock Bags

Frugal Friday Tip for today...

Lori at A Frugally Old Fashioned Homemaker posted a nice tutorial on making reusable ziploc baggies! A bit of sewing and imagination they can be used for lunch boxes, baby shower gifts for homemade wipes, or just think of the possibilities! Just toss in the washer and reuse. Make a whole bunch of them in different fabrics for many uses. Take a look.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Frugal Friday, May 22, 2009


Good Frugal Friday to you all! I have missed you much, as I have been having difficulty accessing my main blog. Internet Exlporer cannot open the site, and it aborts the operation. I have tried rebooting my computer many times to see if it is a problem on my end, but alas, to no avail. I was able to access Frugality 101 through the dashboard of all my blogs, but not the main one "Domestically Inclined" If any one out there has any ideas would you please leave a comment on this post or email me at hizladybug@gmail.com.



Frugality in our homes allows us to help others at times when they are in need. This Memorial Day Weekend please remember to pray for our military and their families and help where we can.


Ideas for helping our Military Families...


  • Pray!

  • Babysit so mom can have the afternoon to refresh or run errands

  • Send a card with a gift card to a coffee shop

  • Drop off a bag of groceries to help stretch till next payday

  • Send an email to our service men and women to thank them for keeping us safe and free.

  • Contact the electrice company and pay a bill privately

  • Drop off a box of diapers and wipes

  • Bake a batch of cookies and visit and encourage them with God's Word
  • Bring some groceries to your churches food bank

  • Pray!

Or come up with your own ideas to bless those who are blessing us with their lives.


Friday, May 15, 2009

Simple Faire is Best

Time has been tight lately with many responsibilites and when that happens and tummies are grumbling for something my first fleshly inclination is to say, alright the lot you...off to bed!
But then I take a deep breath and start making breakfast for dinner.

Take your pick and please the family with a low cost meal for dinner...
~Fried Potatoes and Eggs
~French Toast
~Biscuts and Gravy
~Pancakes and berries
~An Omlet

I just recently learned how to make Quiche! I don't know I guess it was the pie crust thing that I am not particularly good at, and overcame the fright of buying it all rolled up and already done. It's still quite economical purchased on sale. But if you are braver than I...make your own crust.
Quiche...
Just a fancy name and look for some eggs, and a few other ingredients, and very easy to make.
It is also a great way to have "Leftovers for Breakfast".
You really can't make this wrong...only experiment with leftovers and find the way you like it.

Simple Quiche
One of your favorite pie crusts in a shallow pie plate
(Can be homemade or store bought)
Beat six eggs
Add 1 cup cream OR milk OR evaporated milk
Add one cup shredded Ceddar Cheese
(Or just about any cheese you have)
Add a little leftover Hamburger, OR sausage OR Cooked Crumbled Bacon
(Or for the veggie lover, toss in a little broccoli)
Bake at 350 for 1/2 hour
Elegant Quiche
One of your favorite pie crusts in a shallow pie plate
(Can be homemade or store bought)
Beat six Eggs
Add 1 cup cream OR milk
1 Tsp Salt
Pour mixture into uncooked pie crust
Top with Spinach leaves
and Sliced Tomatoes
Top with crumbled Feta cheese
Bake at 350 for 1/2 hour
Serve warm topped with sour cream and or salsa, and or a side salad,
Or grab a cold piece on the run in the morning rather than a doughnut.
Simple Faire Quiche
Omit all the added extras and make a plain Quiche
served hot with Sour Cream and Jam OR Berries
I would have posted a picture of the Quiche, but it didn't last long enough, Enjoy!

Friday, May 1, 2009

Spring Gardening

If you live where it gets warm you might not appreciate this, but here in North Idaho, the snow was on the ground from October to April 5th on this property!
And winter has still been trying to hold on. So I knew if we were going to have anything growing in the backyard, I better get something growing quick. Now the rule of thumb here is you don't plant until the snow is off the local mountain, which is usually around Mothers Day...that's May 10th this year. I know my sister has had to pull three rounds of weeds already where she lives.
I began with organic potting soil and organic seeds this year, in hopes of seeing a green house out back that Dear Husband and I dreamed about in winter. However, mil likes to do yard work and it would be much nicer if she could help. So instead Dear Husband and I wandered out to the local hardware store and bought four white roll up shades and some deck stain for the front porch. Why you say? To brighten up and protect the deck with the stain and put the shades up front on the porch to create a semi controlled place for our seedlings to grow.

It will allow us to do some container gardening, keep down the need for weeding as my time is taken up more with Caregiving.
Ok, so the first pic of marigold and shasta daisy seeds is not so interesting, it's just dirt, but after a winter of white for six months, brown really is a lovely color! In the second picture you can see I used egg cartons to plant the melon and tomato seeds, and the egg carton lid to plant some herbs. The 2" containers cantalope and watermelon...ok so I am dreaming that we will have a long enough season for these to make it to fruition!

They began here on the shelves of an old wire wrack near the heat of the fridge motor and a heater vent, in front of the glass door to get what little light they could find about 4 weeks ago. I did have a full specturm uv light to help out in the beginning. However we have been getting a bit of morning and evening bright sunlight, so having a light weight movable wrack was nice. Next time I thing it work better to have it on a wrack with wheels to just roll across the wood flooring. Now that the sunlight is streaming in more regular I suppose they will growing quicker. Now all I need is some enough weather to get out and clear off the front porch and stain it so I can replant these little babies. The prolific zuccinni is doing great. I did chance a planting of some pea pods out back around the base of a ladder so the plants can grow up the ladder for some support. I also chanced a planting of some green onion seeds and lettuce seeds out in some long planting boxes. And of course waht do you suppose happen a few days later? I kid you not it looked like a white out not of snow, but of hail! That's ok, God has made us Idahoan's tougher with all the show shoveling and if our plants are going to survive than they are going to have to learn in adverse conditions as well. Refining fire has a way of doing that, or in their case...hail.

Hope you are enjoying using your green thumb as well, and I would love to hear what you are doing. I hear much talk of square foot gardening, have any of you tried it? Also, any tips on container gardening? This is my first serious try at container gardening and I would love to hear any tips you have.

Happy Gardening.

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