DIY Cleaning & Laundry Supplies

fabric softener, window cleaner, laundry soap

These are so easy and work great! I can't believe I haven't made my own cleaning supplies before now. I had most of the ingredients already, so I only had to buy a few things. All the ingredients are cheap and come in large containers.

DIY Laundry Soap

Blend until you get 2 cups of bar soap (such as Kirk's castile) in your food processor. Add to it 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup borax (both available at larger grocery stores). Shake well. If you like, add about 10 drops essential oil. I used lavender. Stir well. Cheap and simple!

Add 2 T to each load of laundry. 

DIY Fabric Softener

Get a bottle with a pop off top like the one shown to the left. Put 2 cups white vinegar and 2 cups baking soda into the bottle. Then , add 4 cups water. It will fizz a lot so don't be alarmed. Swish to get ingredients evenly mixed. You can also add essential oil to your liking. 

You will have to shake this vigorously before each use! Either add 1/4 cup to your washer during the rinse cycle or keep and old rag in the laundry room and put about a teaspoon worth of it on the rag and toss into the dryer with wet clothes (my preferred method).

DIY Window cleaner

Get a spray bottle. Put the following in it:

2 C water,  1 C white vinegar, 1 C alcohol, 1 T lemon juice, 2 T dish soap

Use just like you would commercial window cleaner.

All Purpose Citrus Cleaner

This is still in the process of being made so I'll update when finished. To make this all purpose cleaner, you put orange peels into a jar filled with white vinegar and let it sit at least 10 days. Strain and put into a spray bottle.

Basil Preservation Update

Though preserving basil this way was a messy process (see previous post), the cubes did turn out nicely. I think it's worth the trouble. I'm hoping to winter over my basil, but if that doesn't work, I'll be glad I took time to do this.

Crock Pot Sweet Carrots & Herbed Potatoes Recipe & Sophie's Kitchen Breaded Vegan Fish Fillets Reviewed

Picked up Sophie's Breaded Fish Fillets a few months ago and just got the nerve to make them tonight. I never really liked fish aside from the greasy fish pieces from Long John Silver's. I think I liked those mostly for the breading. To be honest, the thought of eating anything fishy kinda grosses me out! They are made from tvp, textured vegetable protein, which I normally avoid but the box specifically said no GMO's so I made an exception. 

what they look like uncooked

Early in the day I put carrots in one crock pot and potatoes in another as side dishes (recipes to follow). I started looking online for a tartar sauce recipe to dip the fish fillets in. Another thing I've never liked is tartar sauce, but since this one would be vegan I might not hate it. I decided on a creole remoulade sauce and boy is it tasty! I can see using this with other recipes.

Creole Remoulade Sauce

1 C nayonaisse (vegan mayo)

1/2 an onion, diced

2 green onions, diced

1 t dried parsley

1/8 C capers

1/8 C sweet pickle relish

1 1/2 T lemon juice

1 t salt

1/2 t hot sauce

1 t dijon mustard

Mix all in food processor. Refrigerate at least 3 hours so flavors can come together.

Sweet Carrots

4-5 diced organic carrots

3 T brown sugar

3 T Earth Balance Margarine  

Put all ingredients into crock pot, stir and cook on low for 6-8 hours. You can drizzle them with agave right before serving. Either way, they'll taste like candy! 

Crock Pot Herbed Potatoes

6 medium organic potatoes, peeled and quartered

fresh basil and fresh rosemary, to taste (I like a lot!) cut up into small pieces

1/8 cup nutritional yeast

veggie parmesan (for sprinkling, optional)

1/4 C water

1 t each of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, parsley

1/2 t each dried dill and season salt

3 garlic cloves (minced)

4 T Earth Balance Margarine

Place all ingredients into crock pot (except parmesan if using) and cook on low for  6-8 hours until tender. Sprinkle with parmesan before serving.

Finished Dinner (Serves 2)

Fish Fillets with Creole Remoulade Sauce, Sweet Carrots, Herbed Potatoes and Banana/Zucchini Bread. I really enjoyed the fish fillets. From what I can remember, they don't taste like fish. So, if you are expecting fish, you'll be disappointed. They remind me more of a chicken fillet. The box said to cook 8-10 minutes in a 400 degree oven, mine needed 15 to get done in the center. The texture was nice, the breading was crispy and the sauce I made really set them off. I would definitely buy these again.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust with Herbs

I'm always on the hunt for a good whole wheat pizza dough recipe. I'm pretty satisfied with this one. I doubled the recipe and made (2) 16 inch thin crust pizzas

You will need:

2 C white whole wheat flour (see note)

1 package active dry yeast or instant yeast

3/4 t salt

1 C hot water

1 T vegetable oil

1 T agave or sugar

1 t each dried bail, rosemary and oregano

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix whole wheat flour, yeast and salt together with spoon. Now add in water, oil and agave or sugar. Stir briefly then put your hands in the dough and get it all mixed up. You aren't really kneading just incorporating all ingredients. Add in your dried herbs.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in sized. Mine took about 30 minutes.

Grease your pan and stretch out your dough to desired size. 

Once you have dressed your pizza, bake in oven 15 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and toppings are done. 

NOTE: white whole wheat flour is milled from hard spring wheat rather than traditional red wheat. It is white without having to be bleached. The bag I have says it has 4.5 times the fiber of all purpose flour. 

I topped this pizza with tomatoes, oilves, fresh basil and Daiya Mozzarella. It was delicious. Enjoy!

The Woods Kitty & Freezing Basil

Yesterday I noticed the dogs barking and caught a glimpse of a cat up on the hill. I thought it might have a home so I let it be. But, last night while I was trying to sleep I kept thinking about it and decided if it was still there today I needed to do something. This afternoon I saw it again, followed it for a bit and realized it's much more kitten than full grown cat. Way too small to make it with the wild dogs, coyotes and predatory birds on our hill. 

A big part of my day was spent trying to trap this wild little kitty who wasn't in love with me at first sight. I set up my live animal trap with some stinky cat food and watched for hours while the cat moved all around but never went into the opening. She was curious about me, but when I would try to get close she would head further into the woods. So I waited and waited. At one point I sat and collected acorns.  When she thought I looked busy she got curious and would get very close.

  

 A few days of this and she would have probably ended up on my lap keeping me from my task like any cat would do. As much as I would have loved to amuse her daily, it was starting to get late. I could hear the hawks and see them circling above and the woods were making unexplained noises. I could not stand the thought of that little girl spending one more night out there. She was in no rush and got quite relaxed. I think she was enjoying the company but had no intentions of letting me pet her. She pressed her face against and rubbed her cheeks on all the twigs around me as if she had been starved for affection.

 I wanted to pet her, but we weren't at that level of trust just yet. I decided I needed a better strategy, so I went and got more canned food and made a trail into the trap. And I sat down prepared to wait. Luckily, this did the trick. I watched eagerly as she started into the trap and when the door slammed shut I felt victorious!! Tonight she will be safe, though not extremely happy. Aside from being very skinny she appears healthy. I will work with her and try to find her a home. 

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Summer is coming to a close here. It's getting cooler so I decided it might be time to cut back the basil and do something with it. I saw the idea on Pinterest to put it in a food processor with just enough olive oil to cover it, blend and put into ice cube trays. I did it and it was messy. As of a few minutes ago, they don't want to come out of the tray :-/ Hopefully by morning they will so I can store them in freezer bags to use this winter for cooking. The idea is to pop one into soup or use it for pesto. 

You can imagine the oily mess this made in my food processor and all over the counter. I wasn't thrilled about that! Doesn't look too appealing at this stage. I'll post an update on this basil freezing method. If things go well with the greenhouse, I'm hoping to keep basil most of the year. Just in case that doesn't work, I'll have a little bit of my summer basil to hold me over. 

Daiya Mac-n-Cheese Cups and Crock Pot Apple Sauce

Applesauce (kinda tastes like apple butter)

Start your applesauce early in the day because it takes 6 hours to cook the apples in the crock pot. Be sure you have some homemade bread ready to spread this on with some Earth Balance.

Peel, core and dice 8 medium sized apples (preferably organic) and put them into crock pot.
Now add:
1 t lemon juice
juice of one orange
2 inch cinnamon stick
5 t light brown sugar
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t ground cloves

Cook on low for 6 hours. Discard cinnamon stick and transfer apples and juice to your food processor and process until smooth.

This only makes about a cup of apple sauce, so if you want more double or triple the recipe.
Store in fridge up to 3 weeks
Can or freeze for longer storage

Update: I had to come back and add to the post that this only made 1 cup of applesauce. Lots of work for that, so next time I will use more apples and triple or quadruple the recipe so I'll have some leftover to freeze. If you want it less apple buttery and more apple saucey, omit the nutmeg, cloves and orange juice. I made these changes because I wanted to spice it up.

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Daiya Mac-N-Cheese Cups

3 cups unsweetened milk of choice- I used oat
2 1/2 T cornstarch
8 oz (1 bag) Daiya Cheddar
3 cup whole wheat elbow macaroni or shells
1/8 cup nutritional yeast 
1 t salt
pepper as desired
1/4 t celery salt
12-18 muffin liners and muffin pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cook pasta according to package directions
In a medium saucepan, heat 2 cups of the milk over medium.
In a small bowl, mix 1 cup milk and 2 1/2 T cornstarch and whisk until smooth.
Add the milk with the cornstarch to the milk on the stove and whisk. Continue to cook over medium.
Add salt, celery salt, pepper and nutritional yeast.
Now add the Daiya and stir. Allow Daiya to melt and cook another 5 minuted to thicken.
Add the cooked macaroni to the cheese sauce. Mix well and spoon into lined muffin pan.
Bake for 15 minutes.

Leftovers: you can freeze these in freezer bags and pull a couple out as you need them.

Whole Wheat Angel Hair with Gardein Chick'n and Tomatoes

Love this dish when I need something quick, easy and delicious!

Serves 1-2

You will need:

2 Gardein Chick-n Filets (there are 4 in each package)

whole wheat angel hair pasta

olive oil

1 T McCormick' Grill Mates Chicken or Montreal steak seasoning. I like either in this.

season salt and pepper to taste

1 T nutritional yeast 

2-4 ripe tomatoes (diced)

Pan fry filets and tomatoes in olive oil with seasoning of choice over medium while you make pasta. Cube the filets as they cook. Prepare angel hair according to package directions. When pasta is done, drain and toss to coat generously with olive oil. Now, add your tomatoes and filets and toss until combined. Add season salt and pepper to taste.

Breakfast Sandwich with Daiya Havarti and Green Tomato Salsa

Breakfast Sandwich

Came up with this yummy breakfast sandwich after I lucked into to some Daiya Garlic and Jalapeno Havarti at my local Kroger the other day. Here's hoping they keep stocking it.

You will need:

SoyBoy Smoked Tofu (I have to drive 2 hours to get this stuff)

Daiya Havarti

whole wheat english muffins

tomatoes

garlic powder to taste

salt and pepper to taste

1) Toast your english muffin in the toaster first. But, don't get it too brown.

2) Now, slice your SoyBoy tofu block in half or thirds depending on how big you want your piece. The package comes with 4 individual blocks. 

3) Put tofu on one side of you english muffin and layer some cheese on top

4) Put sliced tomatoes on other half and sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Now cover with a layer of sliced cheese.

5) Broil in toaster oven or regular oven until cheese is melty

6) Assemble and eat!

Green Tomato Salsa

I wanted to make fresh raw green tomato salsa but most of the recipes I found online said to cook the tomatoes, so I made this one up. It turned out great.

4-6 green tomatoes (diced small)

1 large green pepper (diced very small)

1 T sugar (more if you want it sweeter)

1 T lime juice

1 T lemon Juice

a couple sprigs fresh purple basil cut up (you can use green but I like the pop of color the purple gives)

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all and let sit for several hours or overnight so flavors can come together for a unique, delicious salsa!