Homemade Laundry Detergent

Well, I've joined the ranks of making my own laundry soap. Honestly I was concerned that just a few tablespoons of homemade soap couldn’t possibly get our clothes clean. My husband comes home with steel dust and other nasty stuff on his clothes from work. I never figured there was any way his clothes would come clean!

How wrong I was!

I admit my main reason for making my own is cost. For about $14, I can make the equivalent of 8 small boxes (or more) of Gain detergent. Even if I bought the Gain on a great sale and had a good coupon, I’m still $10+ ahead! 

I make one huge batch and have it for a couple of months! It only takes a few minutes to make.

Admittedly, the hardest thing about it is grating the soap. I use a hand grater and it doesn’t take long.

I found all the items at Wal-Mart.

1 - 4 lb. 12 oz. box Borax
2 - 3 lb. 7 oz. boxes Washing Soda
2 ½ bars Fels Naptha laundry soap, grated on small holes of cheese grater

Mix all together.  (I usually pour two cups each of Borax and Washing Soda then 1 cup Fels Naptha into my container, stir, repeat).

Use 2-4 tablespoons per load, depending on size and how dirty the clothes are (for my husband’s clothes, I use 3 heaping tablespoons).

If you want to try it out without making a big batch (this is what I did at first), stir together 2 parts borax and washing soda and 1 part grated laundry soap.

Banana Cake with Caramel Icing

 

This is an easy cake to make and a great way to use those over-ripe bananas.  I oftentimes buy the “clearance” or “day old” bananas.  Most of the time my family will eat them before they get too mushy.  But for those occasions that they don’t, I either mash them up and freeze them in freezer bags or I make this cake (or Lyn's banana nut bread or no-sugar fudgsicles). 

The cake pairs well with a cream cheese icing as well.  I just prefer the caramel icing.  I also prefer this cake warm.  Of course it’s good cold too.

2 cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mashed ripe banana
½ cup buttermilk or sour milk (I put ½ tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice in a half cup measuring cup and add enough milk to fill, set aside for 5 minutes)
½ cup shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Stir together four, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Add banana, milk, shortening, eggs, and vanilla. Mix with mixer for 3 minutes or until it’s smooth and fluffy.

Pour into two round cake pans that have been greased and floured. You can use a 9x13 but you may have to bake it longer. Place in a 350 degree preheated oven. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until done (when a toothpick comes out clean).

Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Place the layers on cake racks to cool a bit. When using a 9x13, I just leave it in the pan (glass pan, not metal).

At this point I start the icing.

ICING:                                   
6 tablespoons salted butter (no substitutes)
6 tablespoons milk (preferably whole)
6 tablespoons white sugar
6 tablespoons dark brown sugar (you can use light, the taste will just be milder—I used light in the pictures provided)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted

Place the butter and milk in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. When the butter is almost melted, add the white sugar and brown sugar. Whisk to blend and continue cooking until it starts to boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla. Add the powdered sugar and whisk until smooth.

Slowly pour ¼ cup of icing over the cake (I start in the center and move outwards), continuing with ¼ cup at a time until cake is covered. I usually do ¼ cup on one cake, do ¼ cup on the other, switching back and forth. It gives the icing a chance to harden a bit. It seems like when you pour it all on the cake at once, most of it runs off the sides.

Egg Teacups

Do you have extra plastic eggs lying around the house?  I saw this idea in the Family Fun Magazine.  Since Josie got a huge package of buttons for her birthday and we had an excess of plastic eggs after the egg hunt Saturday, I decided to make some bowls and teacups for the girls to play with (because though they have several, there's never enough! LOL). 

Simply hot glue a button to the bottom of an egg half.  You can add a pony bead or another button for a handle (some eggs get side-heavy so the beads seem to work best).  Or don't add a handle at all.

You can embellish them with stick-on gems, foam stickers, sequins (use glue dots to add them), permanent markers, etc.  When I saw how excited the girls were about having more teacups and bowls, I decided to forgo the embellishments (we may do so later). 

Lemon Bar Trifle (Taste of Home)

I got this recipe several years ago from a Taste of Home Magazine.  It's not complicated, it just requires some time and attention.  The nice thing about it is you make everything ahead of time and then assemble at the last minute.  It's easy to assemble.  It's elegant.  And it's very rich and yummy!  Everyone raves when I make it.  I made it recently for my mom's retirement party and I had several people come up to me telling me it was delicious.  My mom also received compliments on it.

CRUST:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup butter, melted

CREAM CHEESE LAYER:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed

LEMON LAYER:
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1-3/4 cups cold water
3 egg yolks, beaten
2/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
4 teaspoons grated lemon peel (I never put this In)

In a small bowl, combine flour and pecans; stir in butter. Press into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Crumble the baked pecan mixture; set aside 1/2 cup for topping.

In a medium heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and flour. Stir in water until smooth. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer.

Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Put back on the heat and bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Gently stir in the lemon juice, butter and lemon peel.

Transfer to a large bowl. Cool to room temperature without stirring. Cover surface with waxed paper; refrigerate until chilled.

Just before serving, in a 3-qt. trifle bowl, layer 1 cup each pecan mixture, lemon mixture and cream cheese mixture. Repeat layers twice. Sprinkle with reserved pecan mixture. Refrigerate leftovers.

This isn't very good leftover (the crust gets soggy). So only assemble what you plan to use.

Homemade Doughnuts

 

Chocolate Glazed Doughnuts

I have tried doughnuts before but they were cake doughnuts and not very good.  I gave up for a few years but have always wanted to try yeast doughnuts.  I was encouraged after successfully making beignets so I decided to try a Southern Living doughnut recipe that I (of course!) modified. 

They are not hard but plan on them taking about 2 hours to make.  This is a once-in-awhile weekend treat at our house.

1 package rapid rise yeast

2 tablespoons warm water (105-115 degrees)

¾ cup warm milk (105-115 degrees)

¼ cup sugar

3 tablespoons shortening

¾ teaspoon salt

1 egg

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Canola Oil

Glaze

Sprinkle the yeast into large mixing bowl.  Add the warm water and whisk until smooth.  Let sit for 5 minutes.  Add the warm milk, sugar, shortening, salt and egg.  Whisk well.  Add 1 ½ cups flour and whisk vigorously (you can mix with mixer but it’s not necessary) until smooth.  Stir in the rest of the flour.  The dough will be sticky.  Cover the bowl and allow to rise until doubled (a cold oven with the light on is perfect for this), about 1 hour.

Remove dough from bowl onto floured surface.  Knead a few times.  Roll to about 1/4 inch thick.  Cut with doughnut cutter (or round cutter and the large end of a decorating tip to make hole).  Place on lightly floured tray and place in the oven with the light on.  Allow to rise for 30 minutes.

About 20 minutes into the second rising, place enough oil in a large pan to measure 2-3 inches deep.  Heat the oil to 350 degrees (I use medium on my stove).  You want to only cook each side about 1 minute so adjust the heat accordingly.  You do not want to overcook them so be careful.  It’s amazing how quickly they cook!

Drain the doughnuts on a wire rack over a cookie sheet.  Dip them into the glaze while still warm.  I usually make the glaze during the first rising and just set aside.  Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired.

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Dash of salt

Milk (1-3 tablespoons)

Combine ingredients.  Add more powdered sugar if it’s too thin.

Chocolate Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

Dash of salt

Milk (1-3 tablespoons)

Combine ingredients.  Add more powdered sugar if it’s too thin.

Cut out and rising.

These are ready to come out!  You don't want them darker than this.

Plain glazed doughnuts--forgive the color, I got heavy-
handed with the Mexican vanilla and it made the glaze dark.

Yard Toy from 2 Pallets

My husband wanted to make the girls a yard toy that he could pick up and move when mowing or just to move it to another part of the yard.  He discovered that a local business had pallets for free so he picked some up and made this yard toy!  The girls love it!

One of two hinges, looking down from the top.

Looking up from underneath.

He added a chain so it wouldn't slide out from under the kids.

The finished product!  He hand sanded the edges a bit so hopefully they don't get splinters.

Cabbage Casserole

Before Baking

After Baking

This is probably one of the most unique things I’ve made. Austin told me about this casserole he had years ago at a family member’s house. I gave it a try and he said it was a keeper recipe with a couple of changes (included). I baked this in a normal 9x13 but Austin said to double the amount of cabbage and I don’t think my pan will be deep enough for all of that. So, if you do use a full head of cabbage, be sure to put it in a deeper or larger pan.

1 head cabbage, roughly chopped (I did half head but it wasn’t enough)
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 pound hamburger meat, cooked, drained, fixed with taco seasoning
1 packet taco seasoning plus water needed for directions on package
1 pound Polk’s sausage (or preferred smoked sausage), cut into 3-inch logs, split down middle
1 pound carrots, peeled (you can leave them whole or chop them)
½ stick butter (the original recipe called for 1 full stick but it was too much)

Spray a deep dish 9x13 or larger pan with non-stick cooking spray. Layer the items in the pan in order as they appear in the recipe. Dot the butter on top. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for about 1 ½ hours or until carrots are tender.

This can also be done on the grill but I honestly wouldn’t know how to tell you to do it!