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Ah Springtime…

2012
04.06

My “young lads’” fancies haven’t yet turned to thoughts of love in the springtime, BUT they do turn to staying cool. ;) I was kinda hoping that the habit of last summer wouldn’t have survived the winter, but alak, no. See, what happens when it’s time to go play outside they start by waving their arms out the door to see if they need a jacket. Then they loudly declare that, “I don’t need a jacket, it’s warm outside!” and away they go like a shot.

A little later I’ll look outside and this is what I see.
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They manage to loose their shirts FREQUENTLY because they might be just anywhere outside when it suddenly occurs to them that they are ‘hot’ and must, of course, take off their shirts. So we find them in various places buried in the sand, under the junipers, in the ditch. *sigh*

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Not only that, but they usually take off their shoes somewhere along the way as well. And this is a habit that I will have to nip, because while they have plenty of shirts if we can’t find the “original” one, they do NOT have a plethora of shoes. I have spent quite a bit of time lately hunting all of outdoors for someone’s shoos that they insist are “lost.” Funny how they can never remember where they took them off.

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I thought that changing out their long sleeved/heavier clothes for shorts and T’s would help with the stripping…. but they still tend to leave their shirts and shoes everywhere. Ha!

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I ordered them some new Crocs sandals for the summer. FedEx is just taking their dear sweet time getting them here. Hopefully they will be more inclined to keep them on their feet. I’ve already had to dig splinters out of a foot or toe on both of them. This climate isn’t conducive to little bare feetses. ;) HOWEVER, even though they still often lose the shirts, at least when they are wearing shorts, they keep those on. Ha ha! These photos are tame compared to what I saw the other day when I glanced out the window and they were both playing in the sand in nothing but unders. ;) Such funny boys! Ha ha! They keep me humored.

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Category The boys |

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Picnic Day

2012
04.05

So we, well the boys, had their first picnic lunch of the season the other day. They actually asked to eat in their play set, and I was more than happy to oblige. It saves a lot of clean up indoors when they eat outdoors. ;)

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It was SUCH a beautiful day! We’ve had a record number of them this spring, and I LOVE it!

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Nothing like a PB&J in a “fort” on a warm, sunshiny day!
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So I bought a big tub of these “cheese balls” from Costco. The boys like Cheetos so I occasionally buy them those. Yes, I know it flies in the face of all this “natural” stuff I’ve been getting into. Because, seriously, can there be anything MORE unnatural than these little fake orange cheese powdered puffs of… well, whatever they are? Probably not. I have a feeling they could pass the happy-meal-that-looks-the-same-a-year-later test. Blah! I don’t eat these… ever. BUT I did cave in and buy them for the kids. I won’t do it again however because this tub will likely last till Ella goes to college. We just can’t seem to make a dent in it. I only give them a small handful each time they have them, and yeah… it’s not depleting very quickly at all. Oh well, perhaps by summer’s end? ;)

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While the boys were reveling in their cheesy powdered PB&J lunches, Ella and I had a more civilized lunch in the dining room. :)

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She enjoyed some string cheese and vienna sausage (also not very natural, ha ha) cut tiny, and some carrots. She likes the ones that come in the “fruit cup” type packages. Yum… or something. ;)

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So I confess that I do fall back on “kid friendly” lunch items from time to time. Though I am making small changes to how we eat in this house. Once Ella does a better job of actually chewing her food, I’ll feel more comfortable giving her more raw veggies. I did try some avocado this weekend, but she tossed it on the floor without so much as a second glance. Might have to work on that one a little. She’s kinda on the skinny side, so I’d like to fill her up with food that counts. But regardless, the lads had a great picnic, and I’m happy happy for the warmer days and less wind! ;)

Category Daily Life |

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Ack!

2012
04.03

So we got home in time for bed last night. ;) Costco stuff everywhere, suitcases and clothing everywhere, dishes from the snack/dinner I gave the kids, and smoothie for Stu and I, all over the kitchen. But we were home!! :) Dentist was behind us!! Yay!

But this morning when I was surveying the carnage, I just couldn’t seem to cope. Seriously, all the “stuff” everywhere was completely overwhelming. I didn’t “feel” stressed out or anything. It was only after the fact that I realized I probably spent about an hour and a half walking around in circles flapping my hands uselessly because I just couldn’t figure out where to start on the mess! Ha!!

I also have other things on my mind, so that didn’t help. Myles has his nose appointment today, I needed to bake some bread BEFORE we left for that, going to drop off the other 2 with a friend, and needed to get dinner in the crock pot, but I couldn’t find our internet card, and didn’t have the recipe written down. Ella broke out in hives, and I couldn’t figure out why. So all of those things kept intruding on my “get it all cleaned up” mode and making me a little crazy.

Eventually, I got some laundry started… there’s still random bits of clothing strewn all over the couch and floor, thanks to my helpful children, from laundry I didn’t get put away before we left on Friday. Oh well, might as well add to the pile, huh? ;)

After that, I decided that dishes were the first priority, so I got those loaded and the washer running. Once the sink was clear, my mind was a little more clear as well. I started preaching to myself, “FINISH IT! Whatever you pick up to do don’t put down till your DONE with it!” See, I like to think I can multi-task, but truthfully, I just end up doing lots of things half way. Ha! So I’d make myself finish doing whatever it was with the Costco sized package of Q-tips before I would stop to refill the paper towels or take something to the pantry. Seemed to work pretty well. ;)

I’ve still got plenty left to do, and I’m trying not to think about the suitcases and such that are waiting for me in the other room. ;) But right now, I’m taking a little break to drink my coffee… and actually taste it.

My mom saved the day, and dinner, by looking up the recipe I needed from my blog, so that’s all good! The bread machine is busily mixing and kneading the dough that hopefully I will have time to finish before we have to get out of here. Ella is napping, and I’m hoping will be hive-free when she wakes. The boys are busy getting filthy outside. It’s all good. ;)

SO the dentist. Had I mentioned that we had all 3 kids scheduled for check ups ON THE SAME DAY??? I sometimes believe that I really do have a completely insane streak running through my brain. BUT when you have to drive 2.5 hours to get there it’s kinda the only option.

Anyway, after spending all kinds of mental energy dreading the whole process, I remembered that I just needed to pray for help and peace and let it go. So I did somewhat, though I still thought that I “knew” it was going to be a horrible experience. I have panic issues personally whenever I think about dentists… not something I enjoy at all. Blah! So, I was probably putting more stress on myself to NOT let it be a traumatic experience for the kids, more than anything.

This pediatric dentist’s office is AMAZING!! I took Myles last year when he tried to rearrange his teeth on the cement steps, but I didn’t really get the full experience then. The staff there were FANTASTIC with the kids. Both of the lads were comfortable with them in no time! Imagine my surprise when they climbed onto the table, wore the “cool” sunglasses and opened up wide without even the smallest resistance!!! Wow!

Ella was a little less interested in having her teeth looked at. With kids as young as her, they do a “knee to knee” exam. That means that I have her sit on my lap facing me then lean her back so her head is on dentist’s knees. She yelled about it a bit, but was thrilled with her new pink toothbrush. :)

The boys both got x-rays because of a couple things we were concerned about. Myles will likely loose those front teeth that he injured earlier than normal, but it’s not a concern. Qade has one front tooth that may be problematic. We’re to “keep an eye” on it and if he has pain from it we’ll take him back in and have it taken out. But overall they are doing well, and the whole experience was positive!

I was afraid that I would be there with all 3 by myself because Stuart had an appointment also a little later, but we got there a bit early, and they got us right in. All three were back there at the same time, and we were out in about 45 min start to finish!! Yay!! God really does work things out, and I waste a lot of time and energy trying to “figure it all out” on my own. Lessons He is gently teaching me.

Well, coffee is almost gone, and I need to get busy again. Perhaps I’ll be more effective this go round. ;) Ha ha!

Category Daily Life |

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Insanity Recap week 2.5

2012
03.31

Sooooooo, against my better judgement I weighed myself on Monday of week 2. Guess what… the scale went the WRONG way again!!! I was pretty discouraged, especially considering I was doing all this work, eating lots of veggies, cutting carbs, and the workouts… whew! Boo!

I got on the FB group and moaned about it a little bit and got a lot of encouragement from the Beach Body coaches and other members in the challenge. One of the coaches pointed out again that you can add poundage, even while we’re getting in better shape. So, I kinda shrugged that part off… sorta… because even though I want the numbers on the scale to be at a certain point, I am starting to get the point that those numbers can’t be my guide, or judge of progress.

So I kept going through the next couple of workouts vowing to not step on the scale again till the start of the second part of the challenge. That’s 3 weeks, so we’ll see what happens then.

The workouts, as I mentioned, don’t get easier, BUT I feel like I am getting better. Stuart has mentioned that my “form” is improving, and I can certainly do more and better push-ups, so YAY!! Also my breathing has really improved and regulated when I work out which is HUGE!! That in itself makes it all worthwhile. I hate to feel limited by breathing issues, and this has certainly helped.

So week 3 began and on Wednesday I noticed some of the other challengers were taking measurements again. Remember we had to do “before” measurements. So, on a whim I thought I’d try it too, and busted out my tape measure and measured just my waist. When I saw the number I wasn’t too impressed, pretty sure I hadn’t ‘lost’ anything there either. BUT when I looked at my before measurements, imagine my surprise to see that I had lost 2 and 1/4 inches!!! WOW! Let me tell you, that I was beyond pumped that this crazy workout program WAS working!! Woo-Hoo!

So for the rest of the week as I workout, I keep thinking about the progress that I have made. When my mind goes back to the scale I think to myself, “I don’t care if I weighed 200 pounds if I could still have abs like the people on the workout DVD.” Ha ha! That is of course an impossibility, but I have to remind myself that it’s the health and wellness that matters not the numbers on the scale. :)

So I’m looking forward to finishing week 3 strong, and getting started on week 4. I keep reading this quote on Pinterest that goes, “It takes 4 weeks for YOU to notice a change in your body, 8 weeks for friends/fam to notice, and 12 weeks for everyone else to notice.” I’m pretty pumped that I have noticed a difference already! So I’m going to keep going and going till I feel that I’m really where I need to be!

Category About Me |

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Slow Cooker Mushroom Chicken…again

2012
03.31

You might think I’ve lost my marbles because if you follow the recipe posts (and have a good memory) you’ll notice that there is another slow-cooker mushroom chicken post. It’s even snitched from the same website! HOWEVER there are nuances that are different, and while I like the other one a lot, I thought I’d give this one a go as well. I think the other one might have been a teeeeeeny bit less complicated, but hey, it’s slow cooker, how complicated can ya get? ;)

We are having this tonight, so while I’m writing I’ve yet to taste it, but don’t worry, I’ll post a verdict on the bottom before this post goes to press. ;)

I made a couple modifications, of course, to the recipe. Would it really be ME if I completely followed a recipe? Ya know, now that I think about it, that is a tribute to my growth in cooking. When I was single on my own, I lived on tuna and bagles… (not entirely but pretty much) and when I finally started actually cooking it was a HUGE process. I’d dirty every dish in the kitchen, burn myself, be covered in flour, and have my nose glued to the recipe the entire time. I’d buy “special” dishes and equipment that I need for JUST that particular recipe… Ha ha ha!! Funny to think back on all of that. Also I had the hardest time with batch sizes. I’d cooke a whacking huge casserole for just Stuart and me. ;) We were notoriously bad left-over eaters as well.

Anyway, I’ve come a long way in my understanding of food and the cooking process… so I take it upon myself to make due, substitute, or go without many things that recipes call for. No exception here. I didn’t use the wine, subbed chicken broth instead, used MY “cream of something” soup instead of condensed golden mushroom, used just whatever cheap mushroom from the produce section I had… uh… Oh, used plain cream cheese with a little onion/parsley powder thrown in. SO aside from that I followed the recipe. ;) Which is to say that if you repeat this recipe as written, your final dish may taste a bit different from mine… but the concept is the same. ;) I plan to serve it over pasta since de Bella likes noodles! (I won’t be having any myself however, low-carbing and all that)

Without any more adoing here it is.

Slow Cooker Mushroom Chicken

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/2 pounds)
1 8-oz. pkg. fresh button mushrooms, quartered
1 6-oz. pkg. fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced
1/4 cup butter
1 0.7-oz. pkg. Italian dry salad dressing mix
1 10-3/4-oz. can condensed golden mushroom soup
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 of an 8-oz. tub cream cheese spread with chives and onion

Directions:

Melt butter in a saucepan. Then add the salad dressing mix. Stir in soup, wine and cream cheese until it combines and melts. Add all the mushrooms to your slow cooker. Place chicken on top and pour sauce over chicken. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on low for 5 hours. Serve over rice, pasta or mashed potatoes.

VERDICT:
It was good! I would have preferred that the “sauce” be a little thicker, so I think next time I will add some cornstarch near the end. The lads ate it without complaint, except Qade reminded me that he doesn’t like mushrooms. Ella had 2 bowls of noodles with a little sauce and chicken… and she didn’t mind the mushrooms at all. :)

Category Recipes |

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Easy Chicken Melts

2012
03.29

This is one of my favorite easy “light” meals. It doesn’t involve a ton of prep and I usually have the ingredients I need for it on hand. I like to use the canned chicken breast we get at Costco for this one too. Most of the time I serve it with some sliced veggies like cucumber and carrots, or celery, and some cottage cheese or something. The recipe calls for Italian Bread, but I normally use slices of my Hawaiian bread instead. It makes about 8 slices that way rather than 10 that the recipe says.

It’s yummy… the kids like it… the Hurb like it… the dog even likes it. ;)

Easy Chicken Melts

1 Can chicken drained and flaked
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 c finely chopped onion
1/2 c diced green pepper (though I have used yellow or red and I like them better, any sweet pepper works great!)
1/4 c. Mayonnaise (I use Ranch Dressing)
3/4 t. Cajun seasoning (I don’t know what this is, but I use just a dash of Cayenne)
1/2 t. minced garlic
10 slices Italian bread 1/2 inch thick
2 plum tomatoes, sliced (I never use these because we rarely have fresh tomatoes on hand)

In a small bowl, combine the chicken, 1/2 c. cheese, onion, pepper, mayonnaise, seasoning and garlic. Spread over bread slices. Top each with a tomato slice; sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375* for 10-12 minutes or until bread is toasted and golden brown.

5 servings

Category Recipes |

3 comments

This n’ That

2012
03.27

So two hours after sitting down to breakfast Myles finally finishes. Now he is getting dressed and ready to start the day at 10 o’clock. *sigh*

We are having to limit “angry birds” time on our iDevices since that seems to be the ONLY thing that Qade is interested in these days. What good are all the educational apps if they don’t get used? ;)

I’ve begun to chat with Qade about “school” from time to time. I’m trying to psych both of us up for it! His initial reaction to the online video clip of Abeka K5 video was, “I don’t want to go there with those kids!” Ha ha! I told him that he wouldn’t have to “go” but that he would watch those kids on a video. I wish they’d update those grades though. It looks so incredibly 80’s. Blah!

Brewing an extra pot of Dunkin’ Donuts Strawberry Shortcake coffee today. I feel the need. ;)

Someone tell me why I have to struggle to get food into my daughter, but yet she will go outside and eat the cat food. This makes no sense to me.

All of my attempts at 100% wheat bread have been pretty not-so-amazing. *sigh* I guess it’s nearly impossible to make a good wheat loaf without extra gluten. I’m going to try it again with a simple recipe I found and just sub out 1 1/4 c for AP flour and see if that’ll do it. :) I’d rather have the whole wheat… but I’d rather not have to try to eat bricks!

Lovely weather…. wretched allergies!! I’ve been snatching little bits of air and sunshine as I can since it’s SO nice, but if I spend even just a few minutes outside I end up miserable from my itchy eyes and schniffly nose. Ugh! I am taking allergy pills, but not so sure they’re working very well.

I got to do a finger paint session with Helen today! That was lots of fun!! The photos were awesome and I have a couple pretty amazing masterpieces from it as well.

All 3 kiddos have dentist appointments on Monday. I wonder what we will discover. If Ella will even let the dentist NEAR her teeth, I will say we had a successful visit. Qade has a disappearing, reappearing spot on one of his top front teeth. I think he may have “killed” that tooth somehow quite awhile back. It turned grayish for awhile, and then went white again. Then this weird purply “spot” showed up in it, and was there for some time, and vanished again just recently. I can’t figure out what in the world is going on there, but we will see. Since they all needed to get in and we have to drive 2.5 hours one way to see the dentist we decided to do it all in one chunk. I’m kinda not ecstatic about the experience though. Thinking happy thoughts…

I don’t know what to fix for dinner….

I like Fuji apples the best. Though Golden Delicious are pretty yum too! The boys like to have apples for their snack outside because, as Qade says, “Apples are a long snack.” Ha ha!

Category This and That |

2 comments

No-bake Energy bites!

2012
03.21

Yummers!! You’ve got to try THESE bites! (there’s a link there under that word, check it out!)

After the crispy treat with non melting marshmallow fiasco the other week I was a little reluctant to have the lads “help” me again. Not so much because of them, but my patience is in bad shape! SO it’s good for me to work it out this way. Anyhow, they helped me with these energy bites and they did a good job, and my patience was mostly fine. ;)

I pinned this recipe some time back, but this was the first time I tried it. They are so so so so so good! You simply have to do it! It’s no bake even! Can’t get much simpler than that, right?? ;)

I didn’t have coconut, sadly, so I added a cup of chopped pecans instead. I’m a nut lover so that works for me. I also left out the choco-chips since I’m trying to be sweets conscious. I used Old Fashioned Oats, Almond butter, honey, chopped pecans, flax seed and the vanilla. They’re awesome!! Think I might skip lunch and just eat these ‘snacks’ all day, ha ha! Oh my! ;)

Here’s the recipe if you don’t feel like clicking the link. (makes 20 or so bites, I might need to double this the next time I make it. The lads LOVE them, just waiting to see Stu’s reaction)

1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1/3 cup honey
1 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything above in a medium bowl until thoroughly incorporated. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls and enjoy! Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Try it… you’ll like it!

You’re welcome! ;)

Category Recipes |

2 comments

Insanity recap week 1

2012
03.21

So my beach body challenge started last monday. Which also happened to coincide with Stuart’s spring break. This year we planned to take some time “away” without the kids during spring break. It was a much needed get-a-way, though explaining why mom and dad were going on a “trip” without kids to the lads was interesting. ;) They didn’t seem to care too much and were plenty excited about their own extended stay at Grandma Noggle’s house! De Bella got some quality all-to-herself grandparent attention time for 3 days at my mom’s house. Stu and I haven’t “got away” like this since our first anniversary!! Yeah, it was time.

But I knew we had to start the Insanity program that week too. So I loaded the workouts that we needed to do onto a computer sticky thing and brought them along. We were able to do the Monday workout at home. Tuesday’s was interesting because we got in late to the B&B and had to try to jump around more quietly because we didn’t know if we had neighbors sleeping or not. ;) The next days we worked out at around 4pm and then had time to recover and shower before dinner. It worked out. Just proof that with a little planning you CAN get your workouts in. We also took a couple ‘light’ hikes in the area. Pretty place!! I love Colorado!

Anyway, I felt pretty sore for a couple of days after starting the program. I did well on drinking lotsa water and eating my fruits and veggies, and only had “sweets” one day when Stu and I split a fudge sundae from Burger King. ;) Even though we’ve only been at it for a week, I notice a difference in the push ups. I’ve always been a notoriously bad pusher-uper. I remember in the 6th grade during PE we had to do a crazy amount of push-ups. At the time I didn’t “need” or care about formal “work outs” as I was a very active kid with a paper route to boot, so I got plenty of exercise. But I hated the push-ups, so I’d only do them when the coach was facing my direction and then I’d just flop down when he wasn’t. Perhaps I should have put more effort into them (obviously) then and I wouldn’t struggle with them so much now. All of that to say that by yesterday, the week mark, I was feeling that I could do them a little better/more effectively. So that was good.

Then I stepped on the scale this morning and my bubble popped!

I actually went UP on the scale after this last week. WHAT?!? After skipping out on sweets and making a point to eat veggies? And after INSANITY??!!?? HUH??? That’s how I felt. I’ve been a bit discouraged over it, but I keep reminding myself that the scale can’t be my guide. Yes, my goal is to make that number come down, but my bigger goal is to get into shape. I’ve read that when starting a fitness program, especially these intense ones, there can be a temporary gaining on the scale side of things due to water retention and whatever it is that you’re body does to ‘adjust’ to the new regimen. I’m hoping that’s the case here, time will tell. I do need to be more disciplined about paying attention to food intake, though I’m sure I haven’t been exceeding my calories.

I am low-carbing it again as well as the Insanity, because the ONLY time I’ve seen progress in the belly-jelly is when I’m cutting out carbs. I’m hoping a combination of the 2 will produce greater results. :)

So that’s week 1 down. It actually went by pretty quickly considering. :) I’m so glad that Stu is doing the workouts with me because I have a difficult time motivating myself when I’m all by myself. He keeps me going, and also helps me pace myself better so I don’t wear out before the workout is over. He’s pretty much just awesome all around. :) I already know he’s going to see better results from this challenge than me and I’m mentally preparing myself to not be bitter about it. ;) Stinkin’ male metabolism! Ha ha! I’m just glad that it’s something we can do together that will benefit us both!

So there ya have it. Till next week then.

Category About Me |

7 comments

Natural Laundry Detergent

2012
03.19

Well, my first experiment in going natural was a success. So far anyway! ;) I tested it on 2 loads of laundry and it seems to get the job done! Plus it was a fun experience to make my own. I felt so little-house-on-the-prarie-ish, ha ha!

Here’s what I used. Dr. Bronner’s Natural Castile Soap which I got at Trader Joe’s for $9.99, cheaper than Amazon. (by the way, I have NO clue about the label on this thing! It seems to be some kind of religious something or other written ALL over this label, but for the life of me I couldn’t make out what it was getting at or which religion it was, so if you know, do tell. I’d be interested to know.) Baking Soda, and Salt. Plus an empty milk jug for storage. :)

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First combine the baking soda and salt with 2 cups of water in a pot and warm just to dissolve. Here’s the baking soda…
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… and the salt…
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… and because I didn’t pay attention, I put the soap in too, oops!
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Finally, the water.
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Stir it up and warm… I think I should have done this longer, but I was concerned about the soap being in there. Probably no biggie, but I wasn’t sure what the heat would do to it. Ha!
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Pour into jug, and all over jug while you try to take a photo of it pouring. ;) Next time I will use a funnel!
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Fill the jug the rest of the way with water.
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Voila! Detergent! You should get close to 65 loads out of this lil jug! Sweet!
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A couple of notes and I’ll put the ‘recipe’ at the bottom. I used the hemp peppermint castile soap this time around because it’s what they had at Trader Joe’s. I have ordered Sal-Suds which, I’ve read, is basically the same concept. I can use the sal suds for dish detergent and other cleaning products too. This batch of laundry soap smelled NICE and minty! I liked that a lot, but I’d rather use this minty soap for personal care products down the line. The minty smell lasted through the wash, but disappeared in the dryer still leaving the cloths fresh smelling. Nice! Pretty sure I’m going to like this stuff. Oh, and I added a splash of white vinegar to the rinse cycle.

Here’s the “recipe” that I got from THIS blog.

1 cup castile liquid soap (Dr. Bronner’s or Mountain Rose Herbs are good choices as they are organic and main ingredients are coconut oil & olive oil) OR Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds
2 cups water
1/3 cup salt
1 cup baking soda or washing soda

Combine soda and salt with 2 cups water in a pot. Warm till mostly dissolved. Poor into gallon jug add soap. Fill jug with water. 1/4 c. detergent per load of laundry.

Try it, you may get hooked, like me! :)

Category Frugal me |

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