Home Made Laundry Soap

I have been making my laundry soap for just over 4 years. What a savings. I make a 5 gallon bucket which turns into 10 gallons after all is said and done. I use to use Fels-Naptha bar soap but after a lot of research I have switched this time to Kirks Castile since it is more natural and am very happy in how this soap does not thicken as much so there are no chunks to shake up between each use. The girls love helping me make our soap. Start with shredding the bar of soap of your choice (Ivory, Fels-Naptha, Castile) I have a old cheese shredded I keep just for this purpose. Then you melt the soap in 4 cups of water on the stove. You fill a 5 gallon bucket of  HOT water half way then add the melted soap to the bucket. Mix well. Add 1/2 c of Borax and 1/2 cup of Washing Soda and mix until all of it is dissolved.Then you fill the bucket to the top with more HOT water. You let sit over night with lid on it and the fill smaller container of choice with lid ( I use an old laundry soap container I recycled from a friend) half way with mixture and other half with more HOT water and shake up. Now you are ready to use just like any other laundry soap. I do like having the old laundry soap container so you can measure it in the cup the same way as store bought. You will need to shake up between uses in case the soap "gels" The Fels-Naptha did but does not seem like the Castile has done that yet. I enjoy the natural fresh smell from the Castile. You can also add 10-20 drops of essential oils in your bucket which I have not done yet. We will try that with our next batch.

The Boxcar Children Cookbook

We just finished the 3rd Boxcar Children book! Now we are going to cook the recipes from The Boxcar Children Cookbook that go with the stories we read. They are very simple tasty meals but exciting for the girlie's since they are all things they can help with and relate back to the stories while cooking them. Ever recipe has a fun name and then a quote from that part of the story. I found it at our local Home School Buildings used section and then gifted it to the girls as part of their joint Christmas gift this past year. What a deal it was only $3.00  :) If any of you have children who enjoy The Boxcar Children book then this is a great book to find for them. My girls were telling a lady who works at our local library about it she told us how she just got her sister-in-law this book as a gag gift since her family knew her as not being so big on cooking.

So on Monday we started with Jim's  Place Hamburgers. This comes from the 3rd book "The Yellow House Mystery." This is 1lb hamburger with a little pepper and 1 small onion chopped and mixed in. Oh and some hamburger buns too he he, simple but a big part of the story.

Yesterday was a crazy busy day so we did not make our Canoe Trip Pancakes from "The Yellow House Mystery" so we will be doing those on Saturday morning instead! Ended up having a late lunch and then snacks from our American Girl party for dinner. Sometime you just gotta have one of those days for your sanity :)

The pancakes are
1 c. flour
1 T. sugar
2 T. margarine, melted
1 T. baking powder
3/4 c. milk
1 egg

Mix it all together and pour about 1/4 c. batter for each one on oiled griddle. They have even more details since it is a children cook book!

Today, Wednesday, we had Beef Stew with Little Vegetables from "The Boxcar Children"
1 T vegetable oil
1 lb beef stew
4 c. water
1 1/2 tsp salt
8 small carrots,scrubbed
8 small onions
1 c. celery, chopped
8-10 small potatoes, scrubbed
1 turnip, sliced(If wanted) we did not
2 c. tomato juice
1/3 c. flour
1 c. more water

1. Put oil and meat in large skillet and cook over medium heat till outside is brown.
2. Add 4 c. water and salt. Turn heat down to low and cook for 1 hour or until meat is tender. Stirring every 15 minutes.
3. Prepare all the veggies.
4. When the meat is tender, add the veggies and tomato juice. Turn heat back to medium. Cook for 20 minutes.
5. Put 1 cup water and 1/3 c. flour into pint jar(we used Tupperware) and shake until mixed. Add to stew and cook till it thickens. Takes around 5 minutes.

This was very very yummy. My anti-veggie hubs even ate it!

Tomorrow, Thursday, I will be doing a day of fasting in prayer for the church we attend has an official launch( it is a newly planted church)  this coming Sunday. So dinner is on my husband for him and the kids. Probably fast food or pizza!

Friday we were planning on Jessie's Clam Chowder from "Surprise Island" the 2nd book.
1 slice bacon, diced
1 small onion, chopped
1 c. peeled cubed potatoes
2 c. water
1 can(6 1/2 ounces) minced clams
2 c. milk
3 T. margarine, melted
2 T. flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Cook bacon in saucepan until crisp.
2. Add onion and cook until soft.
3. Add potatoes and water. Turn on high and bring to boil. Turn down to low and cook until done.
4. Add clams and cook for 2 minutes.
5. Add milk and cook for 5 minutes.
6. Mix melted margarine, flour, salt, and pepper together. Add to the chowder. Cook, stirring constantly, until the chowder is thick and hot!

I will be sure to post how they turn out!

What A Day!

OH BOY OH BOY What a day we had yesterday. Every family has those days that they just need to go to bed and start over and that was us yesterday! We over did the fun this weekend and they stayed up too late and didn't get much rest so we all felt it yesterday. My 7 year old heard about a grandparent who had been in military school as a child so she decided when she received 17/21 on her spelling she was going to run away to military school. Yes she is my perfectionist. She ran upstairs and actually packed her bag and sat on the back step.    :(     She came in after 10 minutes and said "Were you really going to let me go?" Of course not but like I said BOY OH BOY what a day.


"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children." Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Amazed at the reminders the LORD gives me daily on why I am doing what I do every single day. Passing my love for the LORD and work ethics to my children daily no matter what the day brings. Have patience with your children, I am a very impatient person, my biggest task to work on is patience. So pray on EVERYTHING and give your worries to the LORD!

Lesson #8

Weeks 21-23 February 18, 2013- March 8, 2013

• History- Studying Elbert Einstein
• Math- Working on multiplication
• Geography- Newfoundland
• Science-Our bodies and how they work
• Reading- American Girl Kit, The Secret Garden and watching the movie to compare. Natalie is finishing up her 2nd Magic Tree House book as is Savannah with her Junie B Jones book.

We are going to be mailing around Flat Stanley to family and friends. Can not wait to see the pictures of his adventures!

Pancakes

Japanese pancakes with azuki red beans paste in the middle.  Having some issues with my recipe tab but I will add the recipe soon!

Japanese Noodle Stir-Fry

                                                                  Prep for dinner!

We made a stir-fry with Japanese noodles. Added our favorite veggies and some pork to noodles. The girls were not to thrilled with the texture of the noodles but thought it tasted great.

Green Tea and Bento Box Lunch

 Well the green tea was not a hit. Natalie (on your left) can tell you how she felt about it by her face :)

<3 They sure did love there Bento boxes. I made them the night before when they were in bed so it was a surprise!