My Kitchen

This is one post I never thought I would write; I am really falling in love with cooking. Honestly, I even woke up through the night last night, excited to come down and cook. This is partly because my fabulous husband painted the kitchen this past weekend. The walls are so clean (and I didn't realize who gross they had become) and the white trim looks so much brighter, which inspired me to reorganize, discovering a much more user-friendly lay-out for all my cooking equipment.

We have been receiving Green Bean Delivery for the past few weeks, and not only does this enhance our diet and cause me to experiment with a plethora of new recipes, but the fruits and vegetables are gorgeous. My kitchen looks so homey and full of love; hence, the great pleasure I find in here slaving away for my family.

This past week, I cooked chicken cordon blue with mashed sweet potatoes, roasted squash smothered in butter and brown sugar, and a broccoli and corn mixture. Did I mention strawberry cake? Today, I cooked for the first time, an eggplant and tomato dish, smothered in cream of celery and herbs from my garden. This evening I cooked this, a leek and mushroom soup.

No, I am not vegetarian. In fact, we have also just butchered a cow, which should be available for pick up in the very near future. We aren't keeping up though. It seems each week I toss out food that has spoiled before we had opportunity to cook it, but if it isn't gross or unhealthy in anyway, we toss it to the chickens.

I am hoping to learn some about juicing, as not only is that incredibly healthy, it would help me utilize these mangos, plums and other fruits that we can't seem to get through before they wilt away. I am not real interested in purchasing more equipment for the kitchen though, which is sort of ironic, because I love purchasing little dishes and fun pasta. The kitchen really has become the place I think of when I want to spend a little money (as part of my retail therapy). New curtains are on the way...

Laundry Soap

I shared a homemade laundry soap previously that required a large ten gallon bucket that we put on our dryer, scooping out half a cup at a time, at about a penny each load. We've used that for many years and really enjoy it, but I recently found a recipe for laundry soap concentrate and I was intrigued, hoping to save space and make far in advance.

 

This was a pintrest find, and another success! My three jars are above, and I plan to make a double batch soon and see how long that lasts me. Apparently these are good essentially forever.

This concentrated recipe requires only one tablespoon per load, and costs about 1.7 cents per load.

2 bars Fels Naptha (or 6 to make enough for 12 jars)

2 cups 20 Mule Team Borax (or the entire box for 12 jars)

2 cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (or the entire box for 12 jars)

6 cups of hot water (18 cups of water)

(12 quarts of concentrate decreases cost to 1.7 cents per load and would wash 14 loads a week for a year)

Put 6 cups of water on to heat. Grate the Fels Naptha. Mike uses the food processor, but has done this many times by hand. Add the soap to the water and stir frequently. This part takes 10 to 15 minutes. Keep stirring until the soap is completely melted. Don't boil.

When the soap has melted, turn off the heat and add the Borax and Washing Soda. (Washing soda is not the same as baking soda.) Stir and stir and stir for a few minutes. The powders will dissolve into the liquid.

Pour the liquid equally into 4 quart jars, then add enough water to bring the contents up to the "shoulders" of the jar. This will leave about 1 1/2 inches headspace. Put the lids on the jars and let them sit overnight (8 hours). The soap will separate while standing. Sometimes crystals will form in the gel-like soap on the bottom. Don't worry.

This next part is quite fun. Take one of the jars and cut up the foam with a long knife, like a pie. Dump this into a blender. You may have to break up the crystals at the bottom to release them from the jar. Add them to the blender. Hot water may help break them up too.

Start on the lowest speed and increase gradually. My blender easily handled two jars. The result will be really thick foam, like whipped cream. Scrape down the sides if necessary to get it all blended. Pour/spoon the blended soap back into the quart jars, apply like and it should keep indefinitely. It gets firmer with sitting apparently, but always spoonable.

We also bought wool balls this year and have been using them in place of dryer sheets with great success. It is funny to skip that entire isle at Wal-mart, particularly because I know it saves me about $15 a trip.