Cheesecake in a Jar

The first time I saw these
cheesecakes in a jar

at

Jamie Cooks It Up!...

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 Recipes, Sweet Indulgences Sunday, Gooseberry Patch Recipe Roundup.

~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.

The Simple Dollar

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

The Duggar Family Recipes

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

DIY Natural

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 __________.

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! :-)

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.

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!

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...

  

barbacoa beef

cilantro lime rice

cuban style black beans

and corn salsa with lime

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!

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.  

Linked to Gooseberry Patch Recipe Roundup