Homemade Fabric Softener

Fabric Softener

*You need to use a large bucket thats at least 1 gallon

1. c baking soda
1 c. water
Slowly add 6 cups of distilled white vinegar (it will fizz from the baking soda)
wait until the baking soda has dissolved in the vinegar/water mixture. Then add 6 cups of water.
Mix it all well.
Add 10-15 drops of pure essential oil of your scent

Add 1 c. to the rinsing cyle just like regular fabric softner

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Homemade Laundry Detergent

1/3 bar Fels-Naptha or 1 bar of Ivory soap
1/2 c. Washing Soda (NOT baking soda they are different)
1/2 c. Borax
*I found all of this right in the Laundry department at walmart!

Grate soap with a cheese grater or run it through your food processor (just be sure to wash them well afterwards you dont want your food to taste of soap!) Put soap in a saucepan with 6 cups of water. Melt the soap in the water. Add the washing soda and Borax and stir until its all dissolved.
Remove from the heat and then poor 4 c. hot water into a 2 gallon bucket or larger. Stir in the soap mixture until well mixed. Then addd 1 gallon AND 6 c. water and stir. Let the soap sit for a day.
You can make your own scents by adding .5 or 1 oz of essential oil to your soap mixture.

You only need to use 1/2 c. detergent for each load, and it says that if you have a washer that needs the HE detergent you can use this because it doesnt suds alot....but it may void your warranty so thats a personal choice for you to make!

Double Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies

Double Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies 1 stick butter or margarine-softened 3/4 c sugar 1/3 c creamy peanut butter 1 egg 1/2 tsp Vanilla 1 1/4 c all purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1 c. Milk Chocolate Chips 1 c. peanut butter chips *Heat oven to 350 degrees *Beat butter, sugar, and peanut butted until creamy, then add egg and vanilla, beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to other mixture and mix well. Stir in the chips. Drop into balls onto a cookie sheet. *Bake 12-14 min. or until light golden brown around the edges. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet, remove to wire rack; Cool completly.

Pineapple Jalapeno Jam

Pineapple Jalapeno Jam 4 c. sugar 2- 20 oz cans of crushed pineapple in its own juice (drained) 2 Tbls. lemon juice 2 Tbls. minced Jalapenos 1 tsp. butter/margarine 3 ozs liquid fruit pectin (one pouch) In a 4-5 qt pot combine sugar, pineapple, lemon juice, jalapenos, and butter. Cook over high heat stiring constantly until mixture comes to a full rolling boil. Stir in fruit pectin. Return the mixture to a full rolling boil and boil for one minute. Stiring Constantly. DO NOT OVER COOK. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with a metal spoon. Pour into sterilized hot jelly jars and follow canning procedure. (its within my Raspberry jalapeno recipe if you need it, or i found it also on the jars' package)

Raspberry Jalapeno Jelly

I love this stuff. It is awesome over cream cheese served with crackers. I have almost walked off with the whole block of cream cheese with the jelly on it and a box of crackers and I really dont like to share! Enjoy! makes supposedly around one pint 1 c. Fresh or frozen raspberries 1/2 c. chopped bell pepper (seeds and ribs removed) 1/4 cup chopped jalapeno pepper (seeds and ribs removed) -You can add a little more for more heat 3 c. white sugar 3/4 c. apple cider vinegar 3 fluid ozs(one package) of liquid pectin *Sterilize the jars and lids my immersing in boiling water for at least 5 minutes (I saw some websites say to just run them through the dishwasher and theres like a sterilization option) *In a saucepan, combine the raspberries, both peppers, sugar, and vinegar. bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil rapidly for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. *Stir in liquid pectin and run the mixture through a strainer to remove the bits of peppers. (After the fact i regretted doing this, I was looking for more of a JAM than a Jelly, so next time I will spoon the desired amount of peppers into each jar. It gives it a pretty look! Pour strained liquid into the sterilized jars and seal. Other sites and the box with my jars said to keep the jars hot in hot water so that the hot jelly mixture would not crack the jars. Some also said to keep the lids in hot water but NOT boiling water, and to keep the rings out of the hot water for easier handling. *Store in a cool dark place and refridgerate after opening or if you have a jar that doesnt seal, or the top "pops" when you push on it. This means it did not seal properly. Forgive me Canning was a new thing to me. This was my first time so some of the comments may seem "DUH" but I had no idea!

My Recipe

Potato Soup

(I kind of eye ball everything and make changes everytime I make it)

Chop up 4-5 potatos
dice up carrots
dice up celery
Use about 3 cups of water to boil the veggies

Boil until all the veggies are tender.
Add Chicken broth to continue cooking veggies.

You can use Sausage or Bacon (Ive done both, next time Im gonna try to use Sausage AND Bacon)

Melt 1 stick of butter and add about 4 Tablespoons of flour to make a "Rue". Add in a package of cream cheese and stir until creamy. I usually end up adding a little bit of milk so its not soo thick I cant stir it easily.
Then I add the veggies to a crock pot, pour the white sauce in as well and mix well. I then add the meat. Let it all cook together for 3-5 hours. LOVE THIS on a cold winter day! Be careful though. Ive noticed Potato soup always seems to stay VERY hot for a long time and makes you super full!

First attempt at cakes

I made the kids' birthday cakes. They turned out ok for my first attempt at it! I spent a whole day baking and decorating. It was alot of work but they got done!!! The kids enjoyed them! Jaxon completely smashed his up with some of it getting into his mouth, and Cameryn was so excited for her party she had a few bites and decided she was done. Oh well. They looked cool! I also made the cake Marble cake for the first time. YUM!