Saturday, March 27, 2010

Frugal

I have a sick obsession lately with being cheap. I suppose that's not a bad thing, but for some reason I get really really excited over it. To the point where I am taking pictures of stuff and blogging about it. That's not normal is it?

Everyone knows I love a good grocery deal...here was the result of my shopping trip yesterday. All of this only cost me $2.43 with tax. Insane, huh??? I am excited about those lunchables...Gavin loves them and it's one thing I can actually get him to eat! He's usually way too busy for that!



Shortly after Max was born, Amy told me that she found out how to make your own laundry soap. I HATE paying for things like laundry soap and toilet paper that obviously serve a purpose, but get washed down the drain. I decided I would give it a try. (If you know my step-mom she is the cleanest person in the world and if this soap was good enough to wash clothes at her house it was fine for mine!) It probably takes me a total of 15 minutes to make and it works out to only .02 per load! That's unheard of! Especially since it seems all I do these days is laundry. It make a 5 gallon bucket at a time. I think I made it the beginning of December and I am just barely down to the bottom of it at the end of March. I will have to pay more attention to my timeline this time around, but I think that's worth 15 minutes of my time! Here's how you do it....
Buy these ingredients...
I found the Borax at Wal-Mart, but the other things I found only at Smith's. (They have the Borax too, so you could just get it all in one place.) Next you need to grate your soap....

I actually have a grating attachment for my Bosch that I usually use and it's done in no time, but I wanted to see how long it would take using a regular grater...it wasn't bad at all.

In a big pot add 18 cups of water and the grated soap. Heat it until the soap melts. (Watch it because right about the time it's done it will really start to foam!) There may still be a few floaty pieces of soap, but that's ok. To this add 1 1/2 cups of the washing soda and 1/2 cup Borax. Mix and remove from heat.
In a 5 gallon bucket add 4 gallons, plus 2 cups of water. Then add your soap mixture and stir. Let it sit for 24 hours and it will gel. It looks weird, don't be alarmed. Stir it up a bit and it will still be weird looks. It's ok. Use 1/2 cup per load. You can also add essential oils if you want it to smell different. It just has a clean smell to it that is fine. I haven't tried the oils, because, well I'd have to buy those and I'm cheap remember?!?!
Next...bread. I can't tell you how long it's been since I have bought a loaf of bread. I've made my own white bread for over a year and thanks to 2 good friends I have finally mastered whole wheat bread! I don't know why it was such a problem for me, but I had the hardest time with it. Anyway, I got an awesome new blender that happens to grind wheat of all things. Here it is in action...

When Keith and I got married, his mom gave me a Bosch mixer. I don't think I had any idea then just how much I would use and LOVE it! The only problem is, if I ever needed to actually make bread without electricity....well, I wouldn't know where to start!

The dumb thing about this is, I never took a picture of the finished product...suffice it to say that it just didn't last too long :)
Anyway, if you need a good white bread recipe or now wheat bread, I've got them! If any of you made it this far, hope you enjoyed reading this!



7 comments:

Cory, Jeri, Brock and Parker T. said...

I loved reading this! You are one amazing girl.

Mom/Kim/Jewel said...

Gosh, maybe your mom could learn from you!! You Rock! Thanks for sharing the laundry soap recipe, I am definitely going to make some. Keep up the great work. You amaze me :)

Me said...

Janelle, you are too cool! About a month ago, a friend of mine posted on her blog a recipe for making your own laundry soap. I think hers had all the same stuff, except her recipe didn't melt the bar soap down. Now I gotta try this.......

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for the Laundry soap recipe! I am gonna try it! And if you ever need a bread recipe without power just ask my mom or me cause that's how I make bread! Thanks for the inspiration!

Tori and Steve said...

I love the recipe for the laundry soap. I am going to give it a shot. I make most of my cleaning supplies, but have never had that recipe.

If you want some cheap cleaning supplies recipe, give me a call! I make my glass cleaner, my all purpose cleaner, soft soap, and floor cleaner.

Thanks a ton for the recipe!! Tell Amy thanks too!

The Lords said...

I would love your bread recipe!
Thanks for the soap recipe. I had seen that before and wondered if it worked..... I think I am going to have to try it out!

Megan B ♥ said...

My sister has been raving about this soap as well!! I have GOT to try making it...