WFMW - Homemade Dish Detergent

So, I have only used this twice, but I am really excited about it. And impressed.
I don't remember now where I found this recipe. I looked for a while at different recipes and feedback before deciding on this one. I think it originally called for Super Washing Soda, but I haven't found this anywhere yet, so I used plain old baking soda*.

The ingredients:
Baking Soda*
20 Mule Team Borax
Distilled White Vinegar

The first time I simply added 1 Tbsp of each powder to the dispenser (wasn't sure if I wanted to make a batch before I had tried it out for myself) and about a Tbsp of vinegar for the rinse cycle. I was expecting things to be dirty and cloudy, and was thinking I may have to make a fast run to the store to get the old faithful liquid detergent. But alas, I was pleasantly surprised!

Then I made a batch to have ready in a container so I wouldn't have to go around and find each ingredient to add. The second time I just added 2 Tbsp of my mix and the vinegar to the rinse cycle. This time I had left a few things in with a little more built-on mess to test the power. It is good, it is not super. There was a little residue on the things that had more set-on dirt when they went in.
Lesson: Rinse a little better before adding to the dishwasher.
Why I am OK with this: I find that rinsing a little more than usual doesn't take much longer, and often means that I have cleaned the dish well enough to set out to dry, thus making my time between running cycles even longer. Even less detergent I have to use.

This helps me to be more frugal. And environmental. And "Martha." I feel like a better wife and mother and homemaker!
This is what works for me. For more great ideas on what works for others, head on over HERE.

Watch your garden grow

I love finding ways to save money.

I love finding ways to eat healthy.

I love eating good food.

I love finding ways to save money while eating good, healthy food.

Grow a garden! That's how you can do it!

We are not experts. I am definitely not. I did not grow up gardening. I have not studied it, read up on it, spent hours trying to figure out what to do and how to do it. (Mainly because my husband has done the work on the garden. But still...)

You buy the seeds, or even some plants that are already started. Buy the things you know you will want to eat (maybe even all year round if you do good with the garden). Read the directions on the packet, or with the plant. Or quickly look the vegetable up on the internet if you have to. The internet is chock-full of info on how to grow a garden!

It really is simple. We water it on the days it doesn't rain (which hasn't been much lately) and we watch our plants grow. We've had peaches (we did not plant the trees and don't do much for them, but we get good peaches), lettuce, and sweet basil. All very good so far!

We watched our lettuce grow.

We thinned it out some and filled a couple of bowls with fresh-from-the-garden lettuce.

Then we made some really amazing salads with it! I can't wait for all the toppings to come from our garden too. But for right now, the avocados in the stores are so good. And tomatoes. And some slivered almonds and a light dressing. MMMM. I'm getting hungry for a salad.

It really IS simple! And thrifty. And green. (haha. I didn't mean the color when I wrote it. but it is the color green as well!)

"No Spending" Goals

In this post, I talked about how we were doing halfway through our first month of "no spending." We were spending money, but not on things like shopping, eating out, random desires, etc.

Now I'm back to sum up the month and talk about how June can look as well.

• I allowed myself $5 per week between the drugstores in town and Target. I never went over, and only once did I even come close. I am changing this a little for June and challenging myself to $15 for the month between all of these stores.

• Our garden is blooming quite well, thanks to all the rain we have had. We got to eat some salads this past week with lettuce and sweet basil from our garden and have started picking peaches as well. Can't wait for more fresh food. It tastes so good and fresh and saves us so much in grocery costs.

• I don't know of any more great coffee deals coming up, but I do enjoy the Target brand Espresso, so I will have to watch for it to go on sale sometime soon.

• Our menu plan for May worked great and I am following another one that I made for June. We will also be out of town (with all meals provided for us) for a week in June so I did not have to plan for these days and this will help our grocery budget even more!

• Well, we did eat out once, as I talked about here, but we don't plan to again for June. It's not that hard, really, but I do miss Chick Fil A a bit. And it's a bit more challenging to plan meetings that aren't just grabbing a bagel and coffee at a local shop.

• Still keeping very detailed records of all the purchases I am making, and this helps me to see how I am doing as the month progresses, so I know this will continue for June as well.

Other small ways that we are trying to save:

• Reusing ziploc bags
• composting (saves on paying for our trash to be picked up since we don't have to put it out as often and it will help our garden)
• making our own coffee, and trying to drink less of it so it lasts longer
• using white washcloths as towels to clean instead of using paper towels
• I made my own "wet jet refill" so I don't have to pay for the name brand cleaner
• borrowing movies from friends instead of renting or going to a theatre

I hope this helps to inspire you in some way. If nothing else, it has inspired me to look back and see all the changes we have made to try and live and more simple and frugal life.

Making Applesauce for Baby Food

I have heard before about people making their own baby food. Before I ever had a baby of my own I thought these people were probably nuts or just had absolutely nothing better to do with their time.
I have started making my own baby food. I am not nuts. And I do have other things that are always needing to be done. But it is more fulfilling, more rewarding, and less tedious than I once imagined. I have done carrots, avocado, banana and now apples. This is the first time I have remember to document the whole process so I can truly show how easy it is and how much money it can save.
The first thing I did was buy the apples. I know. It's that simple. You can read more about that here. Next, I peeled them. I like to peel first, then cut. This is a personal preference. I am also really excited about the fact that I put these peels in my new compost pile! This part took me about 20 minutes (for 19 apples. my husband ate one, so this has thrown my numbers off a little).
After they were beautifully naked, I used my handy dandy, but not so sophisticated, apple chopper. It does the job just fine. And this part only took me about 5 minutes.
I put them in the pot, added enough water to almost cover them (that's it, just apples and water), brought them to a boil and then turned the heat down to let them simmer (with the lid on). This is the time when you can really start to enjoy the aroma that this creates in the house. This is also a time where you can go get other things done, like feed your infant, or water your garden, or fold some laundry, or just be lazy. I don't know how long exactly that I let them simmer, I just kept checking until I decided they were nice and soft, ready for the next step. It was maybe 30 minutes or so.
After the apples were soft and a little cooled down, I strained them, making sure to reserve the liquid. This has nutrients and flavor and is great to add back in to the apples in the mashing part until you get the consistency you desire (or need for you age of child).

Adding liquid as needed. I would add small amounts at a time, then test the consistency until I got it how I wanted it.
This is what mine looked like. Pretty much looks like store-bought unsweetened applesauce. Then I poured it carefully into my ice trays. I think the ice part of my trays are a little smaller than normal, about 1 ounce each. I filled 5 trays and left 8 oz in the fridge to use sooner than the rest. The pureeing/pouring/covering took about 15 minutes total.
I covered the trays with aluminum foil, put them in the freezer, and once they are frozen through I will put them in ziplocs and label with the date and name. All done! Oh yeah, there is a messy kitchen now...but that'll only take about 5 minutes too.

All Told:

Time: 30 minutes to peel, 5 to chop, 30 to simmer (can do other things here), 15 to puree and measure, 5 to clean. About 1.5 hours, but only about 1 hour work time.

Tools I used: knife, apple cutter, cutting board, pot, strainer, bowl, food processor, pour cup, ice trays, aluminum foil

Smell: Amazing aroma fills the house!

Amount Made: about 88 oz!

Cost: Each apple cost me about $.26 ($.78/lb). I used 19 apples (silly husband messed this up). So, I paid $5 for the apples and got 88 oz of applesauce, meaning $.05/oz.

Savings: Baby food jars are 4 oz of food and you can maybe find a best price of $.50/jar or about $.12/oz. At that price I would have paid $10.56 for the 88 oz I made. This means I saved over 50% (if I could have found this at the cheapest price possible).

Verdict: I think it was well worth my time. I saved money. I know it is good and healthy. I made my house smell lovely. I will do it again, and I will continue to try more foods!

Be Simple, Save Money, Go Green - Part 3

Sorry about missing part 3 yesterday. It was a busy day getting ready for some company, but they are out now and I am catching up.
So I have been discussing some simple ways in which any and all of us can go green without too much of a hassle or too much out of our pocket. Going green doesn't have to mean you spend more green. Let's see how this can work.
To find part 1 go here, and for part 2 go here. Now for three....

8. Recycle Your Paper. Yes, there is the part of this where you buy recycled paper. But what I mean is that you recycle your paper. How many times do we print things (besides our resume) that we use but then toss (maybe even recycle) before thinking about using the back. All you have to do is keep a "scrap" pile next to your regular pile of paper and use it whenever you aren't turning it in for a grade or something. You'll end up buying printer paper less often since you are using both sides.
9. Rechargeable batteries. A simple one here, but sometimes we all need a little reminder. Maybe they are a little more expensive to initially pay for, but you will get a much longer life out of them, and then you are not always throwing away the old ones (good job to those of you who may use regular batteries but at least recycle them).
10. Just Start. Take a step, or a jump, or even a leap, but you have to start somewhere. One of the best places to start is simply recycling. This may not help you save a ton of money in the beginning, but sometimes you can turn things in for change, and change always adds up to more change. Start recycling and soon you'll feel good about this and see the changes around you and you'll want to take a bigger leap!

Just start today!
Good luck!

More simple ways to save money and be green - Part 2

Going green doesn't always mean spending more green. There are many ways you can go green and save money! If you missed part 1, go here.

5. Plan out your errands. If you can plan for the day, or better yet, the week, you can clump your errands together, plan the best route possible (to save time and gas) and you can help the environment in the process by emitting less gas.
6. Take your own bags. Invest a small amount into a few reusable bags and you will be making a great investment for the environment. You can easily take the bags with you when shopping and use them instead of plastic bags. They are often bigger and sturdier, plus you can sometimes get a few cents back for using them. Every penny adds up in the end.
7. Take your own mug. This is the exact same concept as before, except with a mug and a coffee shop. Buy a good mug and take it with you when you get coffee. Most places give a discount for using it, and you don't have to throw away the other cup when you are done, thus, you're going green. Plus it usually keeps your drink hotter (or colder) longer!

Don't worry about trying them all today, but start somewhere and you will be making a big impact on both your wallet and the environment. Watch for part 3 coming your way tomorrow.

Simple ways to save money and be green- Part 1

Think the little things don't matter to your wallet, or the environment? I think your wrong! Here are a few simple things to think about trying today so you can save your money and your environment at the same time!

1. Turn the lights off. When you leave a room, turn out the lights, especially if you are not going back to that room any time soon. And whenever you can, use energy-saving bulbs too.
2. Don't go so fast! Especially right when the light turns green and you want to gun it. All you're doing is wasting gas and getting to the next red light faster.
3. Get some fresh air. This time of year is a great time to open some windows and save on heat or air. If you can't utilize your windows quite yet, at least turn down your heating or AC when you are leaving your house for the day, or especially for vacation.
4. Use rags. This is the time of year for spring cleaning. Cut up some old t-shirts and use them as rags to clean instead of cleaning with paper towels.

Come back on Thursday for part 2 of these great ideas to go green and save money!

Go Green For Free

Looking to be a little more green in your life? One way is by using reusable shopping bags when you go to stores. Right here you can design a bag, which will not only enter you into a contest to win $1000, but you will also receive a credit on your Kroger card to go into your store and get a free reusable bag to start using today! Great deal! Go green!