Lessons of a Housewife: Laundry & Dish Soap

I'll start off by saying I did in fact pass my NCLEX and I am now a fully licensed nurse.

Anywhoo on to the purpose of this post.

My old dish soap was running low and I knew that I was going to be needing some more, so instead of purchasing it I made some! I had to drive 30 minutes away to get octagon soap for the ingredients so I bought ten bars. It only cost $7.90, and only half a bar is needed per gallon of dish soap which means I can now make 20 gallons of dish soap for under $8. That's pretty great considering how much we were paying for store bought.

This is how you do it.

You will need:

1 bar of octagon soap (shredded, and no you cannot use another brand)
1 tablespoon of super washing soda (it HAS to be super washing soda)
A sauce pot
1 long handled spoon
1.5 gallon container (I used a repurposed bleach container)
1 funnel

Directions:

1. Grate 1/2 bar of soap using a cheese grater into a medium sized sauce pot.

2. Add hot water about half way to the top.

3. Stir on medium heat until all the soap is melted. 

4. Add in 1 tbsp super washing soda and stir for 1 minute until it is completely dissolved. 

5. Pour your mixture carefully into your container using a funnel.

6. Add water about 3/4 full and shake well. 

Laundry Detergent:

You will need:

1 bar fels naptha soap grated

1 cup super washing soda

1/2 cup borax

1 sauce pot

1 long handled spoon

1 5 gallon container with a lid

1 clean laundry bottle

1 funnel 

Directions:

1. Grate a full bar of fels naptha soap into a sauce pot with a cheese grater. 

2. Add water until a little over half full stirring on medium heat until all the soap is melted.

3. Pour your soap into a 5 gallon container that is filled halfway with warm water, add borax and super washing soda. You may also add a 5 - 10 drops of essential oil if you wish, however I find this is very fragrant on its own.  Mix contents together and then top with cold water.

I use a 5 gallon trash can with a lid. Just be sure to label it!

Your mixture will become a gel when sitting.

4. Use a funnel and fill your clean laundry detergent bottle halfway with the laundry detergent and fill the rest with water. Label your container and shake well before each use. This will yield 10 gallons of laundry detergent.

Make sure to label it with directions on how much to use. The cap on my laundry container needs to be filled twice to meet the 5/8 requirement so I labeled the cap as well to make things easier. 

Happy cleaning!

Baking Day

Today is Sunday, it's also baking day. I had quite a late start to the day and didn't get as much done as what I was hoping to. I managed to crank out 2 loaves of sandwich bread, 8 pita breads, a batch of dinner rolls, and 4 pizza doughs. Pretty successful.

The key to any successful day of baking or cooking is a clean kitchen. So step one is to clean your kitchen.  Nothing stops one from having a successful day of baking quite like a dirty kitchen.

This is my kitchen. 

I also have an area above the stove where I keep all my baking goods. 

Try to keep the area well maintained, it's easier to know what you have and 

what you don't if everything is in plain site. 

The next step is to gather all of your supplies. I like to have everything ready so it can just be mixed together nice and quick without searching for supplies. 

Sandwich Bread:

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour (I use King Arthur)

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 to 2/3 cup of hot water (I used 2/3)

4 tbsp melted butter

2 tbsp sugar (organic if you can)

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 packet active dry yeast dissolved in 1 tbsp water OR 1 packet instant yeast

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in mixer with dough hook on low speed (2) for about 5 minutes until dough is smooth.

Lightly grease a separate bowl and place dough in the bowl turning to coat.

Leave the bowl covered with a moist towel for 1-2 hours depending on the warmth of your kitchen.

When your dough is ready it should look like this.

Next:

Lightly grease a clean working area and shape your dough into an 8 inch log. 

Then:

Lightly grease a bread pan and place your loaf inside. 

Cover with greased saran wrap so it won't stick and let rise again for 1 hour.

Your dough should rise about 1 inch above the rim before you bake it. 

The amount of time it takes it to rise will all depend on the warmth of your kitchen. 

When your bread is ready pre heat your oven to 350 degrees (F) and bake for 30 - 35 minutes until loaf is golden brown. I made two batches to last the 3 of us all week long. 

When your bread is done, let it sit for a few minutes to cool down, then turn onto a wire rack to cool. 

After the bread has cooled you can cut it into slices and have a yummy peanut butter and jelly

sandwich. This is in my daughter's lunch for tomorrow. 

This recipe is very simple to make, and extremely delicious. Eating healthy and organically does not cost a lot of money. Plus the satisfaction of creating something from nothing is wonderful! I love knowing what is going into my body, especially that of my daughter. I will post more recipe's in the coming days. Hope you enjoy this delicious bread recipe!