My Homemade Life

As I was making chocolate chip cookies today with my crock-pot of milk on the counter beside me and the pizza crust mixing in the bread machine, I realized just how much homemade stuff I make.  I talked about the granola bars earlier (which I'm still making almost every week), but I make so much more.  I've started making my own yogurt in the crockpot.  (Here's the recipe I've found.)  It makes the best yogurt, and you can add anything you want.  The boys scarfed it down with maple syrup and vanilla the other day.  I've put honey and diced peaches in mine.  YUM.  It's unbelievable cheap, plus there is not a single additive in it.  (And I can vary the amount of sugar.)

Not only do I make homemade varities of yogurt, cookies, and granola bar, but I'm also making all of my own cleaners.  I make my own all-purpose cleaner, floor cleaner, window cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, and fabric softener.  Plus, I just started making my own shampoo and conditioner!  When I go to the store, the only cleaners I'm buying are baking soda, vinegar, washing soda, and borax.  I've also bought a couple of varities of castile soap (BEST STUFF EVER!!) and essential oils.  It takes almost no time to make any of these things.  The floor cleaner, window cleaner, and fabric softener is just plain vinegar.  I add tea tree oil to the vinegar when I mop the floor because tea tree oil an anti-bacterial.  I also add either orange oil or lavendar oil to the fabric softener.  The toilet bowl cleaner is simply borax that I sprinkle in, swish around, let sit for 30 minutes or so, and then flush.

Here's the recipes for the rest:
All Purpose Cleaner
1 tsp washing soda
1 tsp castile soap
32 oz hot water
(I also add a few drops of tea tree oil)

Laundry Detergent
1 bar castile soap (grated)
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda
Use one tablespoon - it will not suds up alot, but it cleans really well! 

Dishwashing Detergent
Mix equal parts borax and washing soda.  Use one tablespoon per load.  I also use vinegar as my rinse aid.

I just started making my own shampoo, and I LOVE it.  It will take a few days for your hair to adjust.  I started using this over the summer, and just wore my hair in a ponytail for a week until my hair started looking decent.

Shampoo
6 oz.  strong herbal tea (I used fresh rosemary and mint and let it steep for 30 minutes)
2 oz. castile soap
I put it in a spray bottle because it will be very thin.

Conditioner
Equal parts herbal tea and apple cider vinegar.  (Do not use white vinegar.  I've heard that really bad things happen!)
Once your hair dries, it won't smell like vinegar.  I promise!

Why did I start making all of this stuff?  Well, one reason was to save money.  I hate spending $3.00 on the stuff I spray on the pee around the toilet.  Plus, as long as I stay stocked up on borax and washing soda, I can pretty much clean everything, so there's none of the "We're out of laundry detergent!" attacks in our house.  But I also started reading about all of the chemicals that are in all of these cleaners, detergents, and shampoos, and I decided that if I could make some replacements for as cheap (or cheaper) that worked as well, then I wanted to do that.  And, they're safer.  All of my cleaning products (except for the borax) are non-toxic.  Andrew could ingest them, and while he wouldn't feel great, I wouldn't have to call poison control either.  Definitely a good plan in our house.  :-)