Homemade Bubbles! Fun For Kids Of All Ages!

My kids LOVE bubbles (hey, what kid doesn't?!) but I often find the store bought bubbles just don't work as well as they should.  So of course, I decided to make our own...  This recipe works great!  I just refill our store bought wand and store the rest in a mason jar.

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 2 TB light corn syrup
• 4 TB dish soap

Directions

• Mix all ingredients together and have fun!

Homemade Spinach Hummus

Hummus is a fantastic healthy snack, especially if you make it yourself!  This Spinach Hummus is amazingly delicious, super easy to make and it can be stored in the fridge up to 2 days or store in the freezer.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups garbanzo beans, cooked
• 1/2 cup fresh spinach
• 3oz crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 TB fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 TB tahini 
• Red pepper flakes to taste (optional, I did not use)
• 2 tsp minced garlic

Directions

• Combined all ingredients in a food processor and blend well.
• Enjoy!

Homemade Moisturizing Body Wash

You'll need

• Bar soap (any kind you want, Olay is great or an all natural)
• Water
• Coconut Oil
• Saucepan
• Empty plastic bottle(s)

Grate half a bar of soap and melt in sauce pan, add 2 cups of water and 1 TB coconut oil.  (You can make more or less, just depends how much body wash you want to make!)  Heat on medium heat and stir until all soap flakes are dissolved.  It will look pretty thin and milkly, like this.

Remove from heat and let sit for several hours.  It will thicken up, you may even need to add more water to get to your desired consistency.

Pour into desired container and you're done!

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

I'm always looking for ways to save money.  I coupon, I bargain shop, I cook healthy foods at home and I try to make as much stuff myself as I can...  Like this dishwasher detergent.  It's crazy easy, not to mention super cheap.  And it works fantastic.  You'll never want to go back to using the chemical filled, overpriced store bought stuff again.

Dishwasher Detergent

1 1/4 cup Borax
1 1/4 cup washing soda
1/4 cup salt
2/3 cup lemon juice

Mix all ingredients, add more borax and washing soda if mixture is too wet.  Pack into ice cube trays and let dry (preferably in sun) for 8 hours.

Homemade Spinach Tortillas

Upon request, I finally got around to trying out some Homemade Spinach Tortillas!  Oh man, these things are fantastic!

If you're new to making Homemade Tortillas, let me tell you from experience, be careful not to cook them too long.  You'll end up with a big tortilla chip (Not that that's bad, but if you're wanting a BLT wrap or a taco, it just isn't going to be the same).

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour (half white/half whole wheat)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup hot water
• 2-3 cups spinach (I packed mine)

Directions

• Mix flour, salt and baking powder
• Add oil and mix by hand until mixture becomes crummy
• Put hot water and spinach into a blender and blend until thoroughly combined
• Add water/spinach mix to flour mixture and mix by hand until a large ball forms
• Cover and let sit for 30 minutes
• Divide into 8-12 separate balls of dough (depending how big you want the tortillas)
• Roll out each on lightly floured surface
• Set on preheated griddle (I set mine at 250 degrees) and cook until bubbles begin to form and tortilla begins to turn light brown (around 2 minutes, times may vary depending on your heat)
• Flip and cook on other side until that side begins to brown slightly

Homemade Chicken Sloppy Joes and French Fries - Freezer Meal

This is a fantastic Freezer Meal!  Last weekend I made up a bunch of freezer meals and this was one of them.  When it came time to heat this up and make dinner, I was able to do everything while holding my 9 month old.  Aside from the time it took for the french fries to cook, it took me about 5 minutes to "make" dinner.  With the busy life we have, these kind of meals are a must around here.  And did I mention how amazing these Sloppy Joes are??  Yum!

Ingredients

• 2lbs ground chicken (or beef)
• 1/2 onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 cups ketchup (or make your own with pureed tomatoes)
• 1 cup water
• 2 TB brown sugar
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Cook ground meat until brown, drain fat (if any)
• Add onions, green pepper and garlic
• Cook until vegetables start to become soft
• Add ketchup (or your pureed tomatoes), brown sugar, chili pepper, dry mustard and water.  Stir to combine and simmer 15 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste if desired.
• If eating right away, place on toasted buns, in a pita sandwich or between pieces of BBQ'd eggplant.  
• If freezer, place in freezer bag and freeze!  Just thaw and reheat when ready to use.

Go here to see how to make Great Freezer French Fries.

Homemade French Fries - Freezing Homemade French Fries

I picked up 20lbs of Potatoes for less than $3 and cooked them all up into hash browns, french fries and mashed potatoes.  This is how to make great Freezer French Fries.

Cut potatoes into desired size for french fries.  Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake in 425 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, turning once.

To reheat after being frozen, cook in 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

 Why make and freeze your own french fries?  Besides the taste and health reason... The choice is clear to me...

DIY Homemade Citrus Vinegar Cleaning Solution

We make our own laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, shampoo, toothpaste and deodorant.  I decided it was time to say goodbye to my name brand, store bought cleaner and make my own cleaning solution.  I found this blog post on Jam Hands and decided to give it a try.  I can tell you I am very pleased with the results!  Not only do I not have to worry about calling poison control if my son happens to try and take a swig (though by the smell of the vinegar I think he would probably leave it alone) but it is also chemical free, super cheap and oh so easy.  You just need a little patience as it will need to sit for 2 weeks before use.

You can use lemons, orange or grapefruit.  I was making my dishwasher detergent a couple weekends ago which calls for lemon juice and instead of tossing the skins, I used them to make this Lemon Vinegar Cleaning Solution.  Here's what you do.

Day 1

• After juicing your orange, lemon or grapefruit, take a spoon and scrape out all the fleshy parts.
• Add to a quart size jar and fill with vinegar.  Cap with lid and let sit for two weeks.

Day 14

• After 2 weeks, strain out the lemons, rinse out the jar and place solution back into jar.  This is a concentrated solution, so when you are ready to use, you will use 1 part solution and 3 parts water.
• I had about 2.5 cups of solution and half of this (mixed with the water) made these 2 spray bottles full of cleaning solution.

DIY Make Your Own Shampoo And Conditioner With Baking Soda And Vinegar

I try to do as many DIY and homemade things as I can.  It's better for your health and your pocketbook.

This is one my 15 Uses For Baking Soda Other Than Baking.

Making your own Shampoo and Conditioner.

It's so easy and it costs pennies (if that) to make.  

Before deciding to make the plunge into using homemade Shampoo and Conditioner, I read several blog posts about it, including this one by Jude and the Walrus.  

I will eventually get some glass jars so I can add some of my doTERRA Essential Oils to my shampoo, but for now I just reused an empty bottle of shampoo and witch hazel.

Homemade Sweet N Sour Chicken

You'll never want to eat any other Sweet N Sour chicken again after you've tried this stuff...  Thank you My Saving Game for this recipe!

Ingredients

• 3-4 Chicken Breasts
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 TB ketchup
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1 TB soy sauce (or balsamic vinegar)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees
• Cut chicken into cubes and season with salt and pepper
• Dip chicken into corn starch and then eggs
• Heat 1/4 cup oil in skillet and cook chicken until browned but not cooked through
• Place browned chicken in a greased 9x13 baking dish
• Mix sugar, ketchup, vinegar and soy sauce in a bowl and pour evenly over chicken
• Bake for 35-60 minutes (depending on size of chicken pieces).  It's recommended to turn the chicken every 15 minutes, but I didn't and they turned out fine.

This makes a great freezer meal!  Just cool the chicken and place in a freezer bag!  It only takes minutes to heat up.  Along with some Homemade Fried Rice and you have yourself a meal!

Homemade Fried Rice

You don't need a seasoning packet full of salt or a bag of freezer burnt vegetables to make your own Homemade Fried Rice.  It's so easy and tastes way better than anything from a package!  It goes perfectly with some Homemade Sweet N Sour Chicken.

Ingredients

• 2-3 cups cooked rice
• Soy sauce (or Balsamic Vinegar)
• 2 TB sesame Oil (or regular oil is ok too)
• 1/3 cup onion
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• Finely chopped vegetables (carrots, green beans, broccoli, onion, celery, etc)(I used fresh carrots and green beans and put them into the food processor until finely chopped)
• 6-8 eggs
• 1 cup leftover chopped meat (chicken, pork, etc) - If desired

Directions

• Heat oil in skillet and add onions, garlic and vegetables and cook until vegetables are tender
• Crack eggs into pan and scramble into vegetables
• When eggs are cooked, add in rice and soy sauce (or vinegar) and meat (if using)
• Stir until heated through and well combined.  Sprinkle with Green Onions if desired

20lbs of Potatoes - Homemade Hash Browns, Mashed Potatoes and French Fries - Freezer Sides

I bought 20lbs of Potatoes at Albertson's for $2.96

I took the first bag and split it up in 2 semi-equal weight piles, larger potatoes in one pile and smaller in the other.  I poked fork holes in the smaller potatoes and put them in a 350 degree oven.  (Do not bake until completely done, you want them a little under cooked so you can grate them later)  For these guys it took about 45 minutes.

After putting 5lbs into the oven, I then peeled and diced the other 5lbs of potatoes and put in a large pot and turned on high to bring to a boil (this took quite a little while...).

Then I got the other bag of potatoes out and sorted like I had before, larger and smaller about the same amount of weight in each pile.

I peeled and diced the 5lbs of smaller potatoes this time and placed in my crock pot with water and let soak.

Then I sliced the 5lbs of larger potatoes into french fries, put in a large bowl and seasoned with a little EVOO and garlic salt, tossed and set aside.

At this point the baked potatoes were done, I pulled them out and let them start cooling.  I tuned the oven up to 425 degrees and put the french fries in and baked for about 35 minutes (times will vary depending on size and thickness of fries).

By this time the pot of potatoes were boiling, I let boil 10-15 minutes.

I rinsed the potatoes that were soaking in the crockpot and put fresh water in and turned it on low for overnight cooking.

Then the potatoes that were boiling were done, I drained them and put them in a bowl and adding 1-2 TB of coconut oil (regular would be fine too) and garlic salt and mixed.  Then I placed a scoop of potatoes onto a cookie sheet and using a Wide Canning Lid, shaped into patties.

The french fries got done, I pulled them out to cool.

And placed the hash brown patties into the oven, changing the temp to 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Once done I let cool and placed into ziploc bags and put in the freezer.

After the french fries cooled, I placed on a baking sheet and put in the freezer (I meant to take them back out last night but they ended up staying in there all night).

I also put the baked potatoes into the fridge for the night.

The Next Morning

First moved the french fries from the baking sheet in the freezer into a ziploc bag and placed back into the freezer.

Then I drained the potatoes from the crockpot, added a little milk and EVOO and used my handy hand mixer to "mash".

Then it was time to scoop the potatoes onto a baking sheet (in 1/2 cup increments) and freeze slightly.

After about 30 minutes I transferred them to a ziploc bag and put back into freezer.

Next I peeled the baked potatoes and grated them.

I put the hash browns into ziploc bags with 2 cups in each.

What I ended up with...  10 cups of mashed potatoes, 10 cups of hash browns, 17 hash brown patties and a large pan of french fries.  And I spent less than $3.  

All Natural Vinegar Cleaning Solution

I made some Homemade Dishwasher Detergent and decided with the leftover lemon peels I would make some all natural vinegar cleaner.  You can use Orange peels, lemon peels, etc.  Whatever you have on hand.  Pull off all the fleshy parts and put peels into jar, fill with vinegar and let sit for 2 weeks.  This will be a concentrated solution so mix with water, 3 parts water 1 part solution or adjust as needed for your cleaning project.

Homemade Laundry Soap, Dishwasher Soap, Toothpaste, Deodorant, Air Fresheners

All this will cost you around $10 at Walmart and what you can do with it is truly amazing...

Laundry Detergent

Powdered Version:
1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda
1 bar Fels Naptha (or Ivory) bar soap, grated

Mix and place in jar, use 1-2 TB per load

Liquid Version:

1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda
1 bar Fels Naptha (or Ivory) bar soap, grated

Grate bar soap and put into saucepan.  Add 6 cups of water and heat until the soap melts.  Add washing soda and borax, stirring until dissolved.  Pour 4 cups hot water into 5 gallon bucket.  Add soap mixture and stir together.  Add 22 cups of water and continue to stir.  Let the soap cool and sit for 24 hours.  It will have a strange consistency, don't worry.  It will be liquid and some gel.  Use 1/2 cup per load.

OR this one works great too if you don't want to make sure a large batch...

3 TB Borax
3 TB Washing Soda
2 TB Dawn Dish Soap

Put ingredients into 1 gallon jug.  Pour in 4 cups boiling water.  Swirl until ingredients are dissolved.  Let liquid cool.  Fill to top with cold water.

Dishwasher Detergent

1 1/4 cup Borax
1 1/4 cup washing soda
1/4 cup salt
2/3 cup lemon juice

Mix all ingredients, add more borax and washing soda if mixture is too wet.  Pack into ice cube trays and let dry (preferably in sun) for 8 hours.

Toothpaste

2/3 cup baking soda
water (enough to reach desired consistency)
4-6 drops doTERRA essential oils

Mix baking soda and water until you have the consistency you want.  Place in glass jar and add 4-6 drops of desired essential oil (I use lemon and peppermint)

Deodorant

1/4 cup coconut oil (in melted state)
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup corn starch
5-10 drops doTERRA essential oils

Mix coconut oil, baking soda and corn starch.  Pour into glass jar, add essential oils if using.  Let set up (may need to keep in refrigerator if home is too warm).

Air Fresheners

1/4 cup baking soda
5-10 drops doTERRA essential oils (lavender is nice!)

Mix baking soda and essential oil in glass jar, make hols in lid (with nail & hammer or drill)

Homemade Flour Tortillas - Lard free

Burritos are such a great lunch to send with the hubs to work, especially since I can make them ahead of time and freeze them.  It's cheap, it's easy and it's way better than fast food.  I make our own Refried Beans which saves us a fortune.  While tortillas aren't that expensive, since we're trying to stick to a mostly whole foods diet, or at least make food at home from scratch, I began looking around for a good Tortilla recipe.  Unfortunately, most of them contained lard, or bacon grease, or something along those lines.  Nope, definitely not what I was wanting.  It took some more digging but I finally found some Lard Free recipes.  They were all very similar.  Here's what I ended up making...

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 cup hot water

Directions

• Mix flour, salt and baking powder together
• With hands, mix in oil
• Add hot water and mix until a large ball of dough forms
• Let sit for at least 30 minutes
• Divide into balls (I originally did 12, but after the first couple I realized that was too many and the tortillas were too small.  I recommend about 8 balls of dough)
• Roll out into tortillas and cook on hot griddle (I set mine to 300 degrees)
• Cook 2-3 minutes each side

Divide into balls

Cook on griddle

Done

Add Homemade Refried Beans

 Add to freezer bags and freeze

Or add Homemade Salsa, Greek Yogurt and lettuce

Homemade Coffee Creamer

This was floating around on Facebook and since my husband likes a little coffee with his creamer, I decided this was a must to make!  I can't say it's super healthy...  But I am sure it is better for you than the store bought kind and definitely cheaper.  It's so easy, we will never buy creamer again...

Ingredients

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups Almond Milk
• 2 tsp Vanilla

You can pretty much make any flavor you want out of this.  We will probably experiment with some other flavors.

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients, chill and serve!

Homemade Refried Beans

Making homemade refried beans couldn't be easier, not to mention way better for you.  Did you know 1 can of bean has anywhere from 400mg to 530mg of sodium?  Maybe even more?  And did  you know, when you make your own beans, that the equivalent of 1 can has about 3mg of sodium?  Yes that's right, 3mg vs 530mg.  I guess that's why canned beans cost so much more.  Normally you can find a can of beans for about $1 at the grocery store, yet it will only cost you about 20 cents to make your own, and that's not buying your beans in bulk. This is why I Soak and Cook Dry Beans.

Buy some Pinto Beans (in bulk or in a prepackaged bag).  If I'm not going to freeze any, I will use 3 cups of dried beans.  If you are wanting to make more and freeze them, I would suggest at least 6 cups of dried beans.

1. Measure 3 cups of dried beans, check for any rocks, etc.  Rinse and put into pot.  Cover with a couple inches of water and let soak, overnight preferably.
2. After the beans have soaked over night, drain water, rinse and add enough fresh water to pot to cover by beans a few inches.
3.  Bring to a boil and cook on medium-low to medium (depending on your stove).  They will cook faster if you cover the pot, but watch out for it to boil over.  You may need a lower heat.
4.  Cook until beans are soft.
5. From here you can mash the beans with a potato masher, but I prefer to put them in my Food Processor in small batches and process with a small amount of liquid from the pot.
6. Once beans are the consistency you desire, add salt to taste and 2-3 tsp of cumin.
7. Stir and you're done!  These freeze well, so from here you can enjoy or freeze and enjoy later.

I like to pair mine with Homemade Salsa.  Also much better for you than that processed garbage.

Heavenly Vegan Zucchini Brownies

This recipe was floating around Facebook, I can't find the original post, but it is absolutely the best brownie recipe I have ever made.  If you haven't switched to Vegan baking yet, you need to.  It's amazing.  I also made some Berry Chia Jam and we decided to try it on the brownies...  Magic.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup homemade applesauce
• 2 bananas, mashed
• 1 1/2 sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups finely shredded zucchini
• 2 cups flour

Directions

• Mix applesauce, bananas and sugar together
• Add vanilla & cocoa, mix.
• Add baking soda, salt and zucchini and mix.
• Add flour, mix.
• Spread into greased & floured 9 x 13 baking pan
• Bake in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes