Monday, February 16, 2009

Homemade Laundry Soap

A bit of a change here. This is not food, but a way to save money! I made a batch of this over the weekend, and was very pleased with the results on my husbands' work clothes as well as on all our clothes. The soap takes all of about 5 minutes to mix up.

There are many and varied recipes online for making your own laundry soap. Some are for dry powder type, some for liquid. I prefer the dry powder, so that is what I made.


Supposedly, about any bar soap will work. I bought 2 bars of ZOTE, but I think next time I will use Ivory, simply because its carried at the store I regularly shop at, and ZOTE is not. Most people recommended zote, fels-naptha, Kirks Castile, or Ivory, but several people said they save up their left-over soap bits and use them, using whatever type soap they had on hand.


I used a food processor to quickly grate a bar of ZOTE, then used the knife blade to further pulverize the soap. The whole process too under 5 minutes.

So here's thye recipe!
to 1 cup of the pulverized soap, add:

1/2 cup washing soda {note, all the recipes called for washing soda, however washing soda was not to be found in my town, so I bought a big box of baking soda instead}

and

1/2 cup borax {I bought 20 mules team borax, it is in the laundry aisle.}


Use about 2 tablespoons per regular wash load.


All together these 3 ingredients cost maybe $5.00, and there is enough soda and borax left over to make many, many more batches of soap.

This is incredibly less expensive that the Tide I have been using, and so far I am very happy with the results.

Mashed Potatoes

Put an 8 oz package of softened cream cheese into your potatoes as you mash them, and you will be suprised at the results. You will not taste the cream cheese, but will just notice that the potatoes are creamier and richer than usual.
To about 5 pounds, more or less, of potatoes, use 1- 8 oz package cream cheese.
Then of course use a stick or so of real butter and then add milk or heavy cream, salt, pepper. Fresh chives would be excellent in these, too.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Iced GREEN tea

I love green tea, its a great thirst quencher, not to mention its many health benefits.
Brewing iced green tea is about as easy as filling a pitcher with water. To make a good green tea to be drank cold, there is no need to heat the water or allow a steeping time. With hot green tea, steeping time can be pretty tricky. Too long of steeping time, and instead of a smooth drink you end up with something bitter.
And I don't know this for a fact, but I believe that the cold brew method might actually preserve more of the delicate good-for-you things in the tea, as opposed to subjecting them to heat.
So, here's how to brew a gallon of delicious, thirst quenching, good for you, green tea!

Simply put tea bags into cool water in a jar or pitcher! I use 4 tea bags to a gallon, but depending on your tastes and the size of your container, you may want more or less. Set this in the refrigerator, and it will brew on its own. In 45 minutes to an hour, its ready!
I leave the tea bags in there until its gone, then I start with a fresh batch.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

LASAGNE!


This is my most requested "birthday supper" for the girls. We LOVE lasagne around here. And, it fits pretty well into the heart-healthy mediterranean diet, especially if you use whole wheat pasta!

Lasagne:
Meat sauce
1 pound ground beef (or more, I have made it with 2 pounds)
1 clove garlic minced (or more, its hard to get too much garlic, right?)
1 tsp. basil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 pound can tomatoes (diced, or whole if cheaper and scrush 'em up yourself)
12 oz tomato paste
1 tsp. parsley flakes
Brown meat, add the rest, let barely simmer

Cheese:
Combine:
3 cups small curd cottage cheese
2 eggs slightly beaten
2 T. parsley
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup OR MORE grated mozzerella
you can add some parmesan* to this as well

Lasagne noodles cooked al dente.

Layer:
noodles, cheese mix, 1 # (or more) grated mozzerella, and meat sauce until all igredients are used up. A 9X13 pan struggles to hold it all. If you have a "lasagne pan" that's best.

Cover and bake @ 375 for 30 minutes. Remove cover for last 15 minutes. Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving. You can make your garlic toast while its standing!

Serve with grated parmesan* cheese and garlic toast.
*I have taken to buying a solid wedge of parmesan cheese and grating it myself. Its easy to grate, and while, yes, its expensive, it keeps very well if well wrapped, and you are buying 100% cheese, not fillers, and "anti-caking" products.

GARLIC TOAST
Slice homemade bread, or store bought if you must... (see artisan bread in five minutes a day)
Set it under a broiler to just begin to brown.
Take a peeled clove of garlic and rub it over the surface of the toasted bread. This grates the garlic into it.
Now brush with extra virgin olive oil.
Most delicious!

Enjoy your lasagne supper!