Friday, April 29, 2011

Cheesecake in a Jar



The first time I saw these
cheesecakes in a jar
at

I knew I had to make them. :-)

I am helping to host a Ladies' Day tomorrow 
so I got my chance.
I made,


cherry cheesecakes,


blueberry cheesecakes,


and strawberry cheesecakes!

I must add - these were a hit!  And, very, very yummy!

Linked to Summer Fun RecipesSweet Indulgences SundayGooseberry Patch Recipe Roundup.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

~Homemade Laundry Detergent~


I have no idea why it took me so long 
to start making my own laundry detergent.
  It was extremely easy and really fun. :-)


These are the ingredients you need.
They are not at all hard to find.
In fact they were all on the same shelf at my Wal-Mart!

Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
20 Mule Team Borax
Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar Soap
(You can use other bar soap,
but I really like the smell and color 
of the Fels-Naptha.)

You can make powdered or liquid detergent.
I chose to make the liquid because,
one, it is the best value,
and two, liquid detergent is best for our septic system.


The steps are very simple.
First you grate your bar of soap.
Simmer 4 cups of water on the stove,
add the soap a little at a time 
and stir until it is dissolved.


Pour 3 gallons of warm tap water into a five gallon bucket.
Add your soapy water from the stove.
Then add 1 cup of washing soda
and 1/2 cup of borax.
Stir well until it is all combined.


Put the lid on your bucket and let it sit 
for 24 hours.


And then...
waaa-laaa!
I was so excited to do the first load.
I used one cup of detergent.


It came out great and I thought the towels
smelled very fresh.

But now for the fun details!  Let's talk cost break down.

For this first batch I used 

1 cup of washing soda
1/2 cup of borax
1 bar of soap

and made 52 cups of detergent = 52 loads

In my busy household I wash, on average, 1 to 2 loads of laundry a day, 7 days a week.  That would be between 31 to 62 loads a month.  So I am figuring that this one batch (52 cups/loads) will last me about a month.  Therefore I will probably need to make a batch each month, or 12 batches (624 cups/loads) per year.  How much will this cost?

I will need 12 cups of washing soda for the year.  A box of washing soda contains about 6 cups, so I will need 2 boxes.
I will need 6 cups of borax for the year.  The one box I already bought will be more than enough.
And I will need 12 bars of soap.

Here are the costs:

washing soda $2.77 per box X 2 boxes = $5.54 total
borax $2.98 per box X 1 box = $2.98 total
bar soap $0.97 per bar X 12 bars = $11.64 total

Total cost for a years worth of ingredients (including tax) $21.82

Divide that by 624 loads and you get a cost of 

$0.035 per load

Ok, so how much would I spend for a year's worth of commercial detergent??

I looked up Tide with Bleach at Wal-Mart.

A 100 ounce jug washes 52 loads.  So I would need 12 jugs each year.  

The cost:

Tide with Bleach $11.97 X 12 jugs = $143.64

Total cost for a years worth of detergent (including tax) $155.49

Divide that by 624 loads and you get a cost of 

$0.25 per load

A difference of $0.215 per load or $133.67 per year!  


If that wasn't neat enough,
think of this.
At the end of 12 months
I will have three cardboard containers
and 12 paper wrappers to dispose off -
easily burned with our trash.

Contrast that with adding 12 of these every year to a land fill.


If you are interested in trying this out for yourself, here are three posts that I found very helpful.

This is wonderful step-by-step post that includes a stain fighting comparison of homemade detergent and Tide with Bleach.

You'll have to scroll down a bit to get to the detergent recipe.

Simple directions for homemade powdered detergent.



This is a year's worth of washing soda and borax 
and six months worth of laundry bar soap. :-)

Linked to A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
From the Farm Blog Hop #34

Bible Quiz Day 73


Answer to question 72 - Lazarus (John 11)

Question 73 - In his teaching, Jesus often used simple illustrations called __________.

Saturday, April 23, 2011


Mr. H. finished up Miss LuLu's permanent yard today.


We liked where we had put her temporarily,
so Mr. H. built a nice fence on the spot
and attached it to the chicken's yard.


He gave her a sun and rain shelter
and a wall that will block north winds. 


I think she likes it.


~LuLu~

I think I know why they're called "deviled" eggs...



And, I think someone that had to peel farm fresh eggs to make them
was the one that named them that.

Oh, fresh eggs are SO hard  to peel!!
I have tried all the "tricks" and still I can't be successful.
I can peel a grocery store egg like nobody's business,
but a fresh egg?  
Even my oldest fresh eggs are still too fresh. ;-)

I hard boiled a dozen eggs today to make deviled eggs
and I had one, ONE, decent looking one when I was done.

No deviled eggs tomorrow,
but a lot of egg salad sandwiches this week! :-)

Friday, April 22, 2011

Old Fashioned Carrot Cake Cupcakes



for cupcakes
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups grated carrots

for frosting
1/2 cup butter
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine eggs, sugar, and oil; mix well. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; beat into egg mixture. Stir in carrots. Pour into paper lined muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until done. Remove to wire racks to cool. For frosting, cream butter and cream cheese. Gradually beat in powdered sugar and vanilla. Add enough milk to achieve desired consistency and frost cupcakes. Store in refrigerator until serving and enjoy!

The garden at one month in...



The garden was planted on March 19th.


And this is the garden one month later.
 It's growing! :-)


We have had a few uninvited guests taking some nibbles.
Mr. H. saw deer tracks all around,
so he quickly set up an electric fence.

I've seen lots of sweet little cotton tails around our property lately.
None close to the garden,
but some chicken wire might be in the future, too.


For now, the corn is growing well.


The cucumber plants are growing up their trellis
and have some blossoms.


The squash blossoms are beautiful.


Do you see the baby squash starting to grow?


We have a first bell pepper.


And a jalapeno.


The water melon plants look good.


Along with the tomatoes.


Gardens just amaze me. :-)

~first black-eyed susans~



There have been some winecups and buttercups in the yard this spring,
but this week the very first bunch of black eyed susans popped up!


When we moved in last year in May,
the yard was full of them.


And for that reason, 
black eyed susans will always remind me
that dreams can come true. :-)

Bible Quiz Day 72


Answer to question 71 - repent, baptized (Acts 2:38)

Question 72 - In Bethany, Jesus raised __________ from the dead.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

A Surprise in the Nesting Box...


When I gather eggs each day,
I'm used to seeing differences in the eggs.
I don't know which chicken lays which type of egg,
but in the bunch
there is usually one on the smallish size,
one or  two large dark brown,
one paler brown,
and one very light brown.


Well, today I gathered 5 eggs...
And one of them was QUITE A BIT different from the others!


The egg in the middle is my typical average sized egg.
The egg on the right is from the chicken that lays the smallish eggs.
And the egg on the left is today's surprise!


The carton wouldn't even close! ;-)


I'm not sure when I will crack it...
but I'm thinking it might be a double yolk!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

What's cookin'?


This typically doesn't happen much during this time of year, but I seem to be on a bit of a "try new recipes" kick.  This evening I tried four!  All from Gina's Skinny Recipes.  


We had...


  








I served everything up along with flour tortillas and tortilla chips,
and cheese, sour cream and salsa.

It was all very well received. 

I really like Gina's recipes 
because they make me stretch out of my 
cooking comfort zone just a bit,
with tasty results!

Bubble Ring Revisited



Monkey Bread Bubble Ring
6 servings

1 loaf refrigerated bread dough, thawed

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon


Cut dough into 24 pieces and roll into balls.  Melt butter and combine with sugar and cinnamon.  Dip each piece of dough into butter mixture and layer in a greased bunt pan.  Bake at 375° for 20 minutes.  Let cool 5 minutes and then turn out onto a plate.  Enjoy!

We enjoyed last night's garlic bubble ring so much that I just had to try a monkey bread variety for breakfast this morning.  Yum!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Garlic Bubble Ring


Garlic Bubble Ring
6 servings

1 loaf refrigerated bread dough, thawed
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried onion

Cut dough into 24 pieces and roll into balls.  Melt butter and combine with seasonings.  Dip each piece of dough into butter mixture and layer in a greased bunt pan.  Bake at 375° for 20 minutes.  Let cool 5 minutes and then turn out onto a plate.  Enjoy!

This was really easy and very, very good!  Everyone enjoyed it with our spaghetti this evening.  It was a great change of pace from garlic toast or garlic breadsticks.