Laundry Soap

                                    This picture from....realmudgarden.blogspot.com, isn't it pretty.
One of the first things I did when I was trying to get back to homemaking skills was look for a good old fashioned laundry soap recepi. I found a great one from a great lady, Laurie from Proverbs-3-women on facebook. I have been using this soap for over a year and it works great. So here it is for those of you who want to try it out and start your way into homemaking skills. I use Fels-Naptha for my families clothes and other things, I use Zote soap ( Walmart carries it in white or pint and each bar is equivalent to 3 Fels-Naptha bars). These ingredients can be found at a few places, all depending on where yo live in the country or world. I found them here in Central/Southern California. Walmart has just begun to carry there in their laundry isle on the bottom shelves, so far they are the cheapest. Floyd's carries them also but is a little more expensive, but if it's the only place you can find it get them.Winco and Foods Co, also carry them.




Each batch yields 16 ounces.  I made four batches of this recipe and store it in an old #10 can. You could also store the detergent in large yogurt containers.

1 bar of  Fels-Naptha
1/2 cup of borax
1/2 cup of washing soda

Use a knife to chop Fels-Naptha into small chunks. Add some of the washing soda and Fels-Naptha chunks into your food processor or blender. If using a blender, use the pulse button. Mix all ingredients and thoroughly stir together for 5 minutes and enjoy the results!  For normal loads use 1 TBSP (yields 64 loads) and for heavily soiled loads use 2 TBSP (yields 32 loads).

Hello and Welcome

 I just had a few minutes to say hello and welcome to my new followers. Thanks so much for stopping by to see what I am doing. I will be trying to post something 2 time a week or more. So keep your eyes out and start asking questions, give me ideas on what you are hoping I post on, and maybe you and I can learn new things to help our families or ourselves.

Canning

Water canner with jar holder, lid lifter and funnel.

This post will be on canning. Let's begin with why we would want to can. Not only is it fun but it provides food for your family that DOESN'T take up freezer or refrigerator room. Last year was my first year canning ever, so I was very worried, but I was able to have help. My mother in law has canned before and was excited to teach me. Now the thing about my mother in law is she is the one who also taught me how to sew ( more on this later) and now she is teaching me how to can, what a great thing! My mother and law and I have noticed that we work very well together and really enjoy the company. This year we were unable to can peaches ( cinnamona and nutmeg) due to the tree needing to be trimmed to avoid branch damages from the prior year. However, a Brother ( church friend) from my mother in laws church told her that he had planted too many tomatoes and was wondering if she wanted to pick some. Of course my mother in law told him yes and that we would love to can them. We are grateful for free tomatoes, well almost free, we had to take time to pick them, clean and blanch them before canning. If you wish to begin canning start with the water bath, then follow with a pressure cooker. There are plenty of books out there on water bath cookers, the only thing you need to remember is you want to keep the costs down.  First, buying the water bath canner can be about 60.00, plus add in a jar picker upper, a lid picker upper ( magenet on a stick) about 20.00 or less. Then yo need cans and they run 7.00 and up depending on the size you want. So to begin it can get expensive, but once you start it gets cheaper. I find cans at yard sales and especially estate sales. I always look at the rims of the jars for cracks or chips, and I always buy jars that are kerr or ball. I NEVER buy jars that are not kerr or ball, I am talking about regular glass jars, spaghetti, mayo etc. Know you can buy canning jars made by better home and gardens at walmart and they are fine to use. Just make sure the jars you get at sales are kerr or ball.  Now once you have these items, the next thing you want to do is begin to can, This will begin on the next post, so GO GET yor canning supplies and come back to see what is next.....

Hello and I am sorry

I never realized how much work a blog could be when you have a family. So lets get back on track here.