Suds

Two weeks ago I ended up doing a load of laundry at the laundromat instead of at home.  I of course forgot the laundry detergent (the homemade kind here) and bought some Tide from their soap dispensers.  And I LOVED it.  It worked and smelled SO much better than the stuff I had been using at home.  I didn't want to just start buying pre-made laundry detergent because it is so inexpensive to make your own, so I have found a new recipe to share with you all.  I have been using it for about a week now, and it works MUCH better than my old recipe.  My clothes come out a lot cleaner, and they smell good, too!

For this recipe, you will need:

1 (4lb 12 oz) box of Borax

1 (3lb 7 oz) box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

3 lb of oxyclean (I just use the least expensive brand of oxygen cleaner, in this case, Sun Oxygen.  A 6 lb container is still cheaper than a 3 lb container of brand name oxyclean, and it is pretty much the same thing.)

2 5.5 oz bars of Fels-Naptha Laundry soap bars

4 lb box of Arm & Hammer baking soda

1 28oz (Or 55oz if you want more scent) container of Purex Crystals fabric softener

All of these ingredients can be found in the detergent aisle of Wal-Mart, and a lot of other grocery stores as well.  It cost me just under 25$ for all the materials, and this filled a 5 gallon bucket halfway.  You only need 1-2 Tablespoons per load, so that is a LOT of laundry detergent for 25$.  In the end it works out to be 6-7 cents per load of laundry, which is still a pretty good deal.

It is super easy to make, just grate your bars of soap, (that is the hardest part) using the smallest sized grater possible.  I have a grater specifically for this, so I don't mix my soap with my food.

Then just add all the remaining ingredients, which doesn't involve a lot of measuring because you are generally adding whole boxes of things.  You can either weigh your oxyclean, or if you bought a 6lb container than just dump half of it in.

Then mix it all up!  I find it easier to layer my ingredients, i.e. half the borax, grated soap, purex crystals, baking soda, washing soda, and repeat the layers so that it is easier to mix together.  I think it looks kinda pretty....

One of the best parts is, if you used the Purex Crystals brand of softener, then the container is a perfect dispenser for your new laundry detergent!  The purple cap has lines on the inside of it, and the center line is roughly two tablespoons!  Genius!  :D

*Regardless of the title of this post, this is a low-sudsing detergent and perfectly good to use in HE washers.

Mason Jar Mystery

A fantastic idea that I found online the other day~

Using a mason jar with the blender!  Turns out, the mouth of regular Mason jars is the same exact size as the one on the bottom of your blender.  Who would have thunk it?

Shortly after realizing this, Andrew and I made an emergency trip to Wal-mart to get some supplies. ;)

First, you put 1/3 cup strawberries, 1/3 cup blueberries, and an orange wedge in the mason jar.

Next, you fill the far with some sort of dark juice, any mixture of cranberry or grape juice.  Here I'm using cranberry, but I think it tastes best with cranberry-pomegranate juice.  Put the lid of the blender on...

And just blend it in your blender as usual.  This is so easy, and super cool!

Not to mention yummy.  I adapted this recipe from a larger one I had so that it would fit inside a mason jar.  The recipe for a full sized blender is below. :)

Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie

8 ounces of pomegranate juice (can substitute any dark juice)

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 of an orange

1 cup ice

Place all ingredients in blender.  Process until smooth.  If it is too tart, add a little drizzle of honey.  This recipe makes a little more than 16 ounces.  Not only tastes good, but it is good for you!

Enjoy!