Homemade Laundry Detergent

This works great in an HE machine, is great for me and my kids, who have sensitive skin, and worked great on cloth diapers.  Plus you can make it any scent you like.

4 cups water
1 bar soap
3 1/2 gallons water
borax
washing soda
essential oil, good choices are lemon, orange, tea tree, or any other with some antibacterial property

Get a 5 gallon bucket with a tight fitting lid.  In it put 3 1/2 gallons of water.  In a small saucepan put 4 cups of water and grate in 1/3 to 1/2 bar laundry soap or other organic bar soap of your choice.  Put over low heat and stir to melt the soap.  Stir this into the water in the bucket.  Stir in 1/2 cup borax and 1/2 cup washing soda.  Add 1/4 to 1/2 bottle of essential oil.  I used orange and it smelled great.  Mix everything really well until it gets thick and detergent like.  Cover and let sit overnight.  The next day you can do laundry. 

This was so easy and fun to make, and I don't need to use much, so it will last forever!  Plus you can use any soap or scent to make it your own.  Next time I might try lavender and tea tree oil.

Multi-Grain Muffins

1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup quick oats
2 tbsp wheat germ or bran
2 tbsp cornmeal
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (or for a nut free version, I used sunflower seeds)
1 small carrot peeled and grated
1 medium apple peeled and grated
1 egg
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1 cup low fat milk

preheat oven to 400. Grease regular sized muffin tins (makes 12 muffins). In large bowl combine ingredients up to and included the grated apple. In another bowl whisk egg, oil, honey, and milk until smooth. mix in dry ingredients until just blended, do no overmix. Sit for one minute to let grains absorb some liquid. Bake 17-18 minutes.

Interesting Muffins

Today I took a great whole wheat flour muffin recipe and added edible flowers and sweet herbs to make some rather colorful and interesting muffins.

5 T. butter or vegetable oil
1/3 cup vanilla sugar (I make my own by splitting and scraping a vanilla bean and stuffing it all in a container of sugar) or sugar plus 1/2 tsp vanilla
2  eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
(also use 1/2 tsp baking soda if you use an acidic ingredient)
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup milk or juice or yogurt
1/2 cup edible flower petals or chopped sweet herbs, like chervil, mint, lavender, etc.

Preheat the oven to 375.  Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with papers.  Cream the fat and sugar till smooth.  Beat in the eggs, salt and powder till smooth.  Beat in half the flour, then half the milk.  Repeat with remaining flour and milk till smooth.  Mix in the edible flowers and herbs.  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full, and bake 18-20 minutes till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

These were really mild and interesting.  You could flavor the base however you like, you could substitute your favorite type of flour, your favorite juice, or buttermilk or yogurt, and they always come out.  I used calendula petals and lemon balm, and it was a yummy treat with some homemade fruit jam for the kids snack.

Black Bean and Red Onion Burgers

Since we've been talking about vegetarian proteins, I thought I would share this yummy black bean recipe.. you can serve this with some melted cheese on top, on a burger bun or just by itself (although I like to add at least some guacamole!) The recipe itself recommends a blend of mayonaise and salsa (which is good, but not my favorite)

2 cups canned black beans, rinsed
1 egg beaten
1/3 cup minced red onion (I like to saute this first, since I don't love raw onion)
1 tsp chili powder
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs (Ians makes whole wheat bread crumbs)

Mash 2/3 of the beans with a fork, stir in the onion (once it's cooled if you're sauteing it), chili powder and bread crumbs. Chill for 30 minutes (or up to 24 hours). Form into 3 (I usually get 4) patties, cook in lightly oiled frying pan until golden brown on each side. Around 5 minutes a side.

Protein Question

My kids love vegetables.  I mean LOVE LOVE LOVE them.  CJ gets upset if we don't have a salad each day.  They like chicken, and hamburger and steak.  I am always worried about getting enough protein in them, and of course Rich and I should be eating less carnivorously.  Not being a vegetarian myself, I am unsure of how to get the proper amount of protein from plants.  We are always willing to try new foods, I am just unfamiliar as to what would constitute an appropriate protein. What are your suggestions? 

Disinfectant Spray

I used to spend so much money on that Lysol disinfectant spray, which smells awful, bleaches things, and can't be used when the kids are around.  I just wanted to know that certain things were clean, like the mega blocks and their highchair trays.  Now I just make it.  I saved my favorite spray bottle from an all natural cleaner I spent tons of money on at Stonewall Kitchen, and I filled it with my new spray.  I use it for everything, especially the kids' potties and plastic toys.  I love the way it smells, and it is safe to use on the kids if I wanted to.  Simple and cheap to make too.  I even use it as an air freshener sometimes, as the spray bottle makes a superfine mist if I turn the sprayer top.  Here is the recipe:

2 cups water
3 Tablespoons liquid or castille soap, you can use dish soap, or I use laundry soap that is actually just castille soap that foams too much for my washing machine
20 to 30 drops tea tree essential oil, this is a natural disinfectant and antibacterial substance, though you could also use lemon, orange, grapefruit, clove or any other oil with similar properties

Pour into a spray bottle and shake gently.  Use on everything!  This is what I use to wash all the surfaces in my kitchen and bathroom, and I love it!

Banana Bread (Nut Free!)

For anyone with kids with food allergies, you know how important it is to find good baking recipes! My son loves banana bread, but it is difficult to trust bakery goods (if your child has peanut and tree nut allergies like mine). So I was lucky to find this super easy to make banana bread recipe, with no nuts!

3-4 ripe bananas
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups flour (I sometimes make the 1/2 cup wheat)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease loaf pan. Mash bananas, mix in butter, then mix in sugar, egg, baking soda, salt and vanilla (I sometimes don't add the salt, especially if I'm cooking with salted butter). Add the flour last. Cook for 1 hour.

Glut of Blueberries

So a pint of blueberries were 99 cents the other day so I have been using them like crazy.  Today I made fruit salad with the fresh pineapple I got at Aldi for 89 cents, some home canned peaches, a few strawberries that I got really cheaply, and a large jar of mandarin oranges.  I always add a little thickener (it is called instant clearjel) to make the salad have a thick sauce without adding any sugar.  I used even more of them for breakfast with these delicious muffins:

Blueberry Corn Muffins

1 cup whole grain cornmeal
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar, I prefer the lesser amount
1/2 tsp salt
1 T. baking powder
1 cup milk, buttermilk, or orange juice
1/4 vegetable oil (optional, but does improve the texture)
2 eggs or egg substitute
1 cup fresh blueberries

In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients.  Gently stir in the wet ingredients.  Fold in the blueberries.  Fill the cups of a lightly greased muffin tin.  You may make these mini, standard size or jumbo.  Let the batter rest  while you preheat the oven to 400.  Check mini muffins at 14 minutes, standard at 18, jumbo at 20 minutes.  They are done when slightly golden and a toothpick stuck in the center shows no wet batter.  Remove from pan as soon as possible and cool on a rack.  The kids adore these. 

You can also make this as a bread, like a sweet cornbread.  You can even make this the night before, chill it and make pancakes with it in the morning.  Yeah for blueberry season!