Homemade "Febrese"

It's really super easy to make your own homemade fabric refresher spray! One bottle of my recipe costs less than $1. Compare that to a bottle of febrese...homemade costs a fraction AND works better!

• Use an empty spray bottle (I used an empty febrese bottle)
• Pour into it 1 cup of a liquid fabric softener that you think smells FABULOUS. 
• Then pour in 2 cups of water.  
• Voila!  You're ready to spray. 

I sprayed all my furniture and drapes and my house smells sooooo good.  Unlike Febrese, you don't have to saturate the item and the scent lasts a lot longer.

Make your own spray cleaner

So today I created my first all purpose grease cutting spray cleaner that works fabulous!  

1. In an empty spray bottle, add about a tablespoon of washing soda.  
2. Then slowly fill the bottle about halfway with white vinegar.  Be careful because it reacts with the washing soda!  
3. Fill the bottle the rest of the way with water.  
4. Mix gently.  

This stuff works amazing!!!!

Home made liquid soap

This is super easy to make and will save you a ton of money.  This liquid soap can be used as a hand soap and/or body wash.  

1. Grate 1 bar of soap into a saucepan.  
2. Add several cups of water and heat gently on low, stirring until all the soap is dissolved.  
3. Let cool completely.  
4. If it is too jelly, reheat and add a cup at a time until it makes your desired consistency.  I found about 25-30 cups to work well for me.  

The consistency takes a little getting used to, but it really gets you clean

Cooking Tips and Tricks

Let's face it, we're too busy most days to deal with unexpected cooking mishaps!  Allow me to assist in keeping it from happening!  In this post I'm going to share as many kitchen secrets as I can that I use on a regular basis to make cooking meals for my family as easy and painless as possible!

#1. Spray oil is your friend (Pam cooking spray, for example)!!!  

• Spray your baking sheet before plopping on french fries or a frozen pizza.  When it's done, the food won't be stuck to the pan!  
• When your french fries come out of the oven, give them a quick spray before sprinkling with salt, it helps the salt stick to the fries instead of falling off them and salting the pan instead!
• Don't waste time greasing baking pans!  Give the pan a good spray

#2. Don't throw away your bacon drippings!  I know it's not the healthiest food in the world, but it is one of the most flavorful.  Whenever I cook bacon, I pour the drippings into a jar and refridgerate it.  I use it to add yummy bacon flavor to a number of dishes.

• Use bacon fat instead of oil to cook eggs in.  Mmmm.
• Use bacon fat in place of oil or butter in breads, muffins, sauces, gravies, casseroles.  Oh yeah, baby

#3. Make dinner preparation easier by pre-cutting and marinating meats after purchase and freeze them.  This also keeps your meat fresh until ready to cook.  I divide all the meat I buy into one meal portions (that usually translates to 1-2 pounds per bag)  After I have added the marinade and cut up meat to the bag, I remove the air and seal it...don't forget to label what's in the bag!  Place in freezer until the day it will be prepared.  Thaw in the microwave, and then cook with the rest of your meal!  If you will be cooking the meat with a sauce and other ingredients all at once, such as in a casserole or slow cooker, you can mix all the ingredients together into a bag, label and freeze.  When it's time to prepare the meal, thaw and place in dish and cook!

  

Save by Making Your Own Wipes

Homemade Wipes Recipes

 I was spending $too much$ per month on various wipes for my family/house, so I decided to try making my own. I did some web searches for various recipes and the following are my versions of them.  Your wipes main ingredient will be paper towels.  Make sure they're strong, especially when wet.  I made my first batches today and purchased Bounty brand paper towels.  I don't normally purchase paper towels, so I'm kind of a paper towel virgin.  I found that these are not particularly strong when wet, although they work well dry.  They ARE very absorbent, however.

First, you will need some kind of airtight containers to hold your wipes.  I found some nice round plastic screw top canisters at the dollar store that fits a roll of paper towels cut in half quite nicely.  You can also use those plastic baby wipes boxes, gladware or even ziplock bags. 

Baby Wipes

Either cut a roll of paper towels in half using a sharp knife, remove the cardboard center carefully and place end up in your container, or tear off each sheet from a roll and fold into a stack and place into a square container or baggie.  In a bowl combine 1-2 tbs baby wash (I like the lavender scent, and prefer 1 tbs.), 1 tbs. baby oil, and 2 cups water.  Whisk together and pour evenly over your baby wipes.  If you have used the roll, pull up the center wipe for use.  Allow the solution to soak into the paper towels for at least 1/2 hour before using.  Flip container over at least once to allow even soaking.  These work wonderfully and I have found that I only use a couple per diaper changing compared to 4-6 of the store-bought wipes!

leaning Wipes

The recipe I first attempted called for 1 part bleach to 10 parts water.  I added this to a half roll of paper towels and found that the roll disintegrated from too much bleach.  I then went with a folded stack of paper towels in a wipes box.  I suggest using 1 part bleach to 20 parts water or even less bleach than that.  You could go with 2 cups water and 1 tbs bleach.  I added lemon fragrance to mine as well.  These wipes do an absolutely wonderful job cleaning surfaces!  I think they smell better than Clorox wipes, too, and don't have a lot of chemicals in them.

Make Your Own Laundry Detergent and Save Big!

Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipes

So I decided to stop spending so much money on many 'convenient' store-bought products and make my own.  I found that it's barely less convenient to make your own, really, and you save a TON of money.  It only takes a few minutes to make the recipes and they'll last several months!  I found some recipes via an online search and adjusted them to suit me.  Here are three that I made today:  

#1.  This is a concentrated version of a recipe I found online.  You'll need a gallon size container.  (I used an empty juice jug that has an airtight screw top and handle.) Into this jug add: 1/2 cup plus 1 tbs. each washing soda and borax (These can be found with the laundry care products in many stores.  These two items were about $5 together), 1/4 cup plus 2 tbs each dawn dish soap (I used the pineapple scent, it's my favorite) and your choice Downy unstoppables (these two items cost about $10 together).  The downy unstoppables are optional, it just adds fragrance.  My favorite scent is 'shimmer' (the pink one).  Now add about a quart or so of boiling water to your jug and shake it well to dissolve everything together.  Finally, fill your jug the rest of the way with cold water.  It's ok to let the foamy bubbles pour out while the jug fills.  Use 1/4 to 1/2 cup per load of laundry.  You will have enough washing soda, borax, dawn, and downy leftover to make many many more gallons of this detergent and it only cost me what I used to pay for ONE gallon of my old favorite store-bought premade laundry detergent! I've just tested this one today and I really liked how nicely the clothes smelled after the wash.  A plus for this recipe is it doesn't require any further mixing during use like the next recipe does.

#2.  You will need a clean 1 gallon jug.  Put 1 cup each borax and washing soda into the jug.  Boil about 4 cups of water.  Grate up 1 cup of bar soap.  You can use a laundry bar such as fels naptha or regular bath soap.  I used an old favorite bath soap, Dial Spring Water (I purchased a pack of 8 bars for $4).  Put the grated soap into the boiling water and stir until it's dissolved.  Add this to your jug and shake the jug until all is dissolved.  Fill the jug with cold water.  Be sure to shake the jug before each use.  Use about 1/4 cup in each load of laundry.  You may add fragrance to this.  I didn't, because I thought it smelled great as is.  I have tested this detergent and it works just fine.  It didn't impress me as much as the other two listed here, but does get the job done.  One downfall to this recipe is it separates and the soap clumps to the top, which requires vigorous shaking or stirring before each use.

#3.  This is for a powdered laundry detergent.  This recipe doesn't make a lot, so you can multiply it to make a longer lasting amount.  I will most likely do this now that i've tested it and like it.  It gets the laundry VERY clean.  The first time I used it, was on a load of light colors and when the wash cycle was done, the clothes didn't appear to have any stains left on them and besides smelling fresh, they looked very bright, so it gets the dingies out!  You will need to grate up a bar of soap (I used a bar of fels naptha that was $1).  Mix this with 1 cup each washing soda and borax.  I also added some downy unstoppables to mine for added fragrance.  For a consistent and fine powder I suggest you put the grated soap and unstoppables through a grinder or processer before adding to the other ingredients.  You'll only need to add 2 tbs. per load of laundry.

Update: I've been using laundry detergent #2 for about 2 weeks now and I am still very pleased with it.  I've used a little more than a half gallon (that's from an average of about 1-2 loads of laundry per day)