HE Washing Machine Detergent

I was lucky enough to acquire a HE washer and dryer. Everyone knows how expensive the soap is for it though. I stumbled upon this recipe, Yay! Thank you Duggard Family!

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

Low-carb shrimp salad

I came up with this today. It's a warm salad and very satisfying.

7 oz shrimp
1/4 cup olive oil
1 toe garlic minced
1 tbs sliced celery
2 cups romaine lettuce
2 tbs grated Parmesan
dash of salt

Sautee garlic and celery in olive oil and add salt. When garlic starts to brown and celery is translucent add shrimp. Sautee for about 15 minutes or until all shrimp are cooked. Pour hot mixture over romaine lettuce and top with Parmesan.

A salad like this would cost $7.95- $9.99 at a local restaurant. Making it at home would only cost you between $3.00-$4.00.

Red Tea the next health craze

The newest health fad to hit the states is this red tea stuff, also known as rooibos. Also high in antioxidants like green tea but unlike any of the teas it comes from aflowering African bush. It's grown only in South Africa and has no caffeine, it also is low in this stuff called tannin which makes tea bitter after sitting there for a period of time. Cool!

 

Low-carbn

Ok, ok I know low carb diets aren't the cheapest of the bunch, and I know this is a blog about saving money, not spending it. But! I really need to loose a lot of weight. I'm not talking 30 lbs or 50lbs; I need to loose 100lbs. There is no price on health and I have successfully lost on Atkins before. As long as I stick to it I will lose it all in about a year!

My plan is to be on the Induction part of Atkins for 6 weeks and on a reduced calorie for 2 weeks to load up on all the fruit and healthy grains I would be missing otherwise. I would repeat the cycle till I've reached my goal weight. Exercise is definitely included. For now I'm just going to do cardio for 1 hour 5 times or more a week. I will add strength training later when I lose some fat and get used to working out so much.

How did I get this way?

Well I seriously have no one to blame but myself; though I did have a little help with some problem pregnancies and depression, but that is a thing of the past. Now I must keep moving forward for my health and my future as well as my figure. Wish me well!

Join gym TS

The t stands for tennis and the s stands for shoe because that is all you need to have a good workout. Here are some ideas that you can do around your neighborhood and in your own home to work out.

Cardio:

Walking

Aerobics - I do this on rainy days or days where I just don't feel like leaving the house. I put some music on and make up my own thing. As long as you are sweating and breathing heavy it will work.

Biking- This can be more expensive but think of all the gas money you can save if you bike to work or the store. They even have a child extension on some bicycles so you can take your little ones with you.

Swimming - If you live in an apartment with a pool or a neighborhood that offers a free pool this is a wonderful option during the warmer months.

Weight Training:

Gardening- With all the lifting heavy bags of soil and digging I can see how this is good weight training.

Soup cans- Good for beginners since they are not too heavy but heavy enough to make a difference

Dumbells - They are pretty cheap and there is a lot you can do with them at home.

Cheese enchiladas

20 corn tortillas
oil for softening tortillas
1 lb cheese shredded (colby jack or cheddar is good)
1-2 diced onion
1 can of red enchilada sauce

First you need to set everything up so you have a sort of cooking line. Make an area for frying the tortillas, you need your pan on the burner and next to it a chopping board arranged with a paper towel for blotting, shredded cheese and diced onion. Make sure you have a space on the cutting board to roll the enchiladas. At the end of the cooking line should be a casserole dish.

Heat up some oil (1-2 tbs) in a skillet or pan and drop in a tortilla. Let it sizzle for 3 seconds and flip it over with tongs or a spatula if you are really talented. Fry the other side for a couple of seconds and place hot tortilla on the cutting board. Blot with paper towel to get excess oil off and fill tortilla with 1 tbs of chopped onion and about 3-5 tbs of cheese. Roll filled tortilla up, (tortilla should be very pliable, if it is brittle you need to fry them a few seconds longer), and place in the casserole dish. Repeat these steps until the casserole dish is full. Pour can of enchilada sauce over enchiladas and top with any remaining cheese. Bake in pre heated oven 350 F for 20-30 minutes, or until the smell of enchiladas wafts through the house for 5 minutes. That is usually how I can tell something is done.

Serve with homemade re-fried beans and a salad and you have a cheap dinner that's yummy.

Short on grocery money...

This week has been really tight for me. I am trying to save up money so I do not even count the savings in my budget for expenditures. The problem I came across was that there were some things I couldn't buy but could improvise. For example I needed dishwasher detergent, but the stuff is about $6 a bottle and I had to spend my non-food grocery money on things I couldn't improvise like garbage bags. So instead I made my own from baking soda, borax and a dab of dish washing liquid. Here's the recipe.

Dishwasher Soap

1 cup borax

1 cup baking soda

Mix together well. When you want to use for a load of dishes fill up the second soap reservoir, the one that does not close, and make a small indention in the pile of soap and add a dab (approx 1/3 tsp) of dish liquid. Then start your machine like normal.

Also if you like to have a rinse aid but want to save money and opt out buying the small bottles of rinse aid, try using white vinegar instead. Everyone knows how well white vinegar cleans windows and mirrors, it really does a great job on glass cups too.