Frugality and Ingenuity

I've been making our laundry detergent for about three months now, and I really like it. It's much cheaper, more hypo-allergenic, more eco-friendly, and very easy. It only takes about 5 minutes, and costs about 7 dollars for several months worth. This detergent is even safe for High Efficiency washers because it is low-suds.

     

This is all you need to make it. You will need:

1 cup Borax

1 cup washing soda

one bar of soap, grated

Mix all of the ingredients together, and make sure there are no clumps. If you want a completely natural detergent, choose an all-natural soap, but any kind will work. I like Kirk's Castile soap (in the aisle with the bar soap). It is all natural (and vegan), and the main ingredient is coconut oil. The Borax and washing soda are found in the laundry aisle at the store.

When you're finished it will look about like this.

One batch fits very nicely in this 32-ounce yogurt container. Use 1-2 tablespoons per load, one for small to medium loads and 2 for large or more heavily-soiled loads.

Meet one of the best stain removers for fabric...Hydrogen Peroxide!

Peroxide is great to soak clothes in for a couple of hours to remove difficult stains, especially food stains. Just be careful not to leave it too long because it can lighten and weaken fabric if left for too long. We learned this the hard way :(  I have safely let items soak for most of a day before throwing it in the wash, but I would make sure it's rinsed out before going to bed that night to prevent damage to your clothes.

I will do a post on my fabric softener soon!

I also made Zoe some new baby food this week. For the last few months, she would only eat this for dinner:

Gerber Stage 3 Spaghetti, and I had to mix her veggies into the sauce.

 I have been trying to broaden her horizons lately and vary her diet some, partially because it's healthier, but she also has shown some interest in our food. So I made this, and she really liked it. I bought some tiny pasta balls (like for Italian Wedding Soup), cooked them in chicken broth and let them absorb almost all of it when they were done cooking. Then, I mixed up some of that instant (powder) chicken gravy, and I mixed the pasta and the gravy together. I stirred in some soft, diced carrots.

tiny pasta balls

I buy already cooked, diced veggies in little four-ounce cups like this at Wal-Mart. They come in packs of four, and you can buy carrots, green beans, green peas, and corn like this.

Zoe's complete meal: her chicken pasta & carrots, Ritz crackers, and vanilla Greek yogurt. (Zoe is not a great chewer and the yogurt helps her get it all down without gagging.)