Frugal Tips: Homemade Dish Soap

So why in the world would you need to make homemade dish soap when you get a bottle at just about any grocery store for less than a dollar (especially if you're buying the really cheap stuff!) Well, I guess if you were stocked up you wouldn't really need too, but this is really fun to make, SUPER easy, and still probably costs less than the cheapest dish soap you can buy. I don't make it often, but we're in the "counting pennies" stage of January and it's a snow day and I'm not willing to go out to the Dollar General just to buy dish soap because I'm out. That's a wasted trip of gas in my opinion!

AND... hubs was so interested in what I was doing he stopped to come over to see how it worked. I told him it was science and he was in. Don't ask me about the actual science. I have no idea, I just know it cleans dishes when I'm out of Mrs. Meyers or Dawn and that's good enough to me. And I actually have all the ingredients on hand (because I've been known to make lots of other homemade household cleaning items) so it's a win win in our house.

Washing soda is SLOWLY becoming easier to find (I get mine from a local ACE hardware store, but you can also buy it from amazon (because what CAN'T you get from amazon these days?), and it's really key in this recipe. It's what gives the dish soap thickness over a day or so to make it act and feel like the dish soap you're used to buying from the grocery store. Make sure not to confuse washing soda with regular baking soda, while I've used baking soda in homemade clothing detergent in it's place, it's not the same product and it does NOT work in this recipe!

Finished and cooled dish soap with a drop or two of blue food coloring (optional!)

It took less than five minutes to "cook up" this bottle of dish soap. And it's enough for at least two weeks. We made the soap different colors just by adding a drop or two of food coloring, but you can simply leave it natural and it's a light lemon yellow color. Somehow my husband seems convinced it works better if it looks like Dawn! lol... So buy some castile bar soap, some washing powder (the stuff will not go bad, it's good forever!) and next time you run out of dish soap try making your own!

I use Dr. Bronner's castile soaps. I generally keep several bar soaps on hand along with a large container or two of the peppermint liquid castile soap and the lavendar liquid castile soap. Those scents are just personal preferences and you could use any scent for dish soap. Castile soaps are crazy useful and super inexpensive (considering they are very concentrated) and will clean just about anything. I've used them for washing everything from clothes, to floors, to bathrooms, to windows, to using them in the shower when I was out of our regular shower scrub! It's a very versatile and frugal item to have on hand.  

I would say this soap works just as well as any type of  non-concentrated Mrs. Meyers or Dawn or Joy dish soap. You can play with this recipe and add additional washing soda and grated castile bar soap to the small amount of water for a more concentrated soap. Beware though, that the more soap is added, the thicker the soap will become as it sits or ages. To thin it down, simply add a bit of warm water and close the lid and shake to thin it down.

A Small Batch of Homemade Dish Soap
Adapted from this recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups boiling water
• 1/4 cup grated castile bar soap (I don't pack it - this also helps save money and keeps the soap from getting too thick)
• 1-2 tablespoons washing soda
• 1/4 cup liquid castile soap
• 10-20 drops essential oil (if desired)

 Directions: 

• Add grated castile soap to the boiling water. I do this right in my small stainless steel pot that I heated the water in. 
• Add the washing soda and liquid castile soap and stir to combine into a slowly thickening liquid. 
• If you are using plain castile soaps without any scent, once the soap has completely COOLED,  feel free to add 10-20 drops of your favorite essential oils such as lemon, orange, cinnamon, or mint to create your own favorite scented dish soap (you can also use this as a hand soap.)
• Pour cooled soap into a recycled plastic bottle or even a glass jar dispenser.  We've been using a ketchup bottle we washed out and re-used.

Bread, Broth, and a Menu

It's become a tradition on Sundays to bake bread. We've been pinching pennies for several months to get our budget back in order and as much as I love Udi's... it's too expensive right now. So I pulled out the old bread machine and started cracking out a loaf on Sundays. We use it basically for sandwiches one night a week and sometimes as toast in the morning. I realize those of you who follow this blog are wondering why in the world I'm eating sandwiches when I'm supposed to be following a paleo diet.

Balance... I've realized it's very hard for me to follow an extremely strict diet for the long term. It tends to set me up for failure to say I'm not going to eat an entire food group forever and then when it happens that I eat carbs, I go WAY overboard. It works well for me short term, but not long term. So right now, we're just focusing on balance and healthy choices. I don't eat carbs at every meal, and when I do eat them, I eat small portion and get on with my life. So no need to get all tangled up in paleo politics and food judgement.

This bread is Elizabeth Barbone's recipe. I make it dairy-free by using blanched almond flour in place of the dry milk powder and it works beautifully. I make the loaf in our old "Breadman" bread machine on the quick setting and it takes about 75 minutes total. We let the bread cool completely and then I slice it and freeze it. We get about 14 slices from this loaf.

With a tight budget comes ways we can stretch our food dollar. I realized last week I had a small center cut of a beef shank in the freezer. The entire package was less than a pound which included the big shank bone in the center. I asked friends on facebook what in the world to do with such a small cut of beef and many suggested making a soup stock.

This led me to remember my grandmother making "stew beef" (which is different than beef stew... basically an even more frugal version of the stew!) So I looked around and found this recipe which intrigued me. This sounded a lot like the dish my grandmother used to make. I recalculated the recipe to make the dish with only 1 pound of beef and I made my own homemade version of onion soup mix since I didn't have any.

I put the beef, onions, water, and homemade onion soup mix in the slow cooker over night. It worked great! It made just enough for about 3 servings (the pared down version) and the next day I served the broth with Cappello's grain-free, gluten-free gnocchi they had sent me for a review. It was a really delicious combination. I'll definitely make this again!

My boys: from bottom to top - Charlie, Whiskey Jack, and Max

Because we're on such a strict budget right now, I decided to go ahead and make up a menu for the rest of the month using what we have in the fridge, freezer, and pantry. So here's what we're having. The best thing about menus like this is that it basically gives you ideas for what you have in your pantry for the next few weeks. You can re-arrange and change the menus to whatever days work best for you. I also based this menu heavily off my ideas for a "yearly" menu that I shared a few weeks ago.

The (remainder of this) MONTH'S Menu!

• Monday Jan 20 - Cheryl's celery in chestnut sauce (as a soup) with leftover turkey
• Tuesday Jan 21- Roast chicken (from slow cooker cookbook!), baked sweet potatoes, sauteed zucchini
• Wednesday Jan 22- ground beef taco salads with tomatoes, lettuce, avocados
• Thursday Jan 23 - deli turkey and bacon sandwiches with sliced apples
• Friday Jan 24 - pan-seared pork chops with sauteed peppers & mushrooms, served with quinoa or rice OR LEFTOVERS 
• Saturday Jan 25 - homemade pizza, using Luce's gluten-free buckwheat artisan bread as the crust
• Sunday Jan 26 - FAMILY MEAL: spiral ham (from the freezer), green beans, sweet potatoes, sauteed kale, deviled eggs
• Monday Jan 27 - LEFTOVERS or venison (no - tomatoes) chili (we leave out the tomatoes as I'm sensitive to them in large quantities) 
• Tuesday Jan 28 - black-eyed peas with leftover ham soup in slow cooker cookbook (will add kale or swiss chard to soup as well)
• Wednesday Jan 29 - breakfast for dinner: bacon, eggs, grits or pancakes, fresh fruit
• Thursday Jan 30 - nomato sauce  over almond flour pasta with a salad
• Friday Jan 31 - deli turkey and bacon sandwiches with sliced apples or LEFTOVERS
• Saturday FEB 1 - FAMILY MEAL: bunless gluten-free hotdogs with homemade baked beans and broccoli salad
• ALL LUNCHES: leftovers, always make sure to have enough for the next day
• ALL BREAKFASTS: scrambled eggs and sausage, oatmeal with pecans and pumpkin seeds (premade, just take to work), turkey bacon and almond flour pancakes. 

My oldest girl: Mollie, don't mess with this chick!

Max with my other girl: Maya... they are snuggle buddies! 

Frugal Accomplishments - December 2013

My friend Carrie, author of the blog "with all that I've been given", has been writing posts over the past few years highlighting all the different ways she's been able to save a penny or two with the practice of frugality. 

I've also practiced frugality much of my life, but most often in seasons.  I hate to admit we often have a "feast or famine" attitude. When we have abundance we live in abundance, and when we've had little we've lived with little....Except over thr past few years when we were used to abundance and started living that way with very little.  Not a smart financial move.

So over the past few months I've been trying to get a true handle on all of our finances and get back into major savings mode.

I wanted to start keeping track of all the ways we've been frugal. Not to show off, but to share tips and hints. Carrie's posts have been so helpful to me,  I'm hoping my posts will also be insightful to others who are trying to live more frugally. So here's my list for December 2013:

Frugal Accomplishments 12/2013

• Christmas cards: used cards I bought last year in an after-Christmas sale at Big Lots. Also used postage stamps I had bought through 2013, so we had no immediate costs for buying or shipping the cards.

• Groceries: saved over $90 (about 30 percent of our total) on all groceries over the month of December by combining coupons with store sales. 

• Pet supplies: we received two free bags of cat litter (with five cats we go through a lot of cat litter!) after writing to the company with questions. This was a savings of $40.00.

• Holiday parties: limited the amount of items we took to holiday parties/get-togethers (usually I go overboard with lots of extra cooking) - we took one or two items only (per event) and used the same recipes for multiple events to save on groceries.  This was helpful not only in grocery savings, but also in time and energy.

• Travel expenses: while we were home over the holidays we combined trips and only went to town if absolutely necessary outside of the combined errands. We saved a lot of money in gas this way. When I went to visit my dad in the hospital over Christmas (several hundred miles away) I stayed in the hospital overnight with him to save on hotel costs. (Thankfully the hospital was gracious enough to allow this!)

• Cash only: after the recent Target debit-card fiasco, hubs and I were left without debit cards for 3 weeks starting on Christmas day (our bank cancelled all cards that were used at Target during that period). This was incredibly frustrating at first, but we went cash-only for 3 weeks (okay, it was only 2 weeks, but it sure felt like 3 weeks!) and then realized how much less money we spent overall when we only had cash. A silver lining in my book. Now we are committed to living cash only for groceries, home supplies, and gas, etc... we're only using our debit cards for emergency purchases in the future.

• Frugal entertainment: ONLY watched movies and TV shows that are included in our Netflix and Amazon Prime memberships (thanks to not having debit cards!) - We had not realized how much extra money we had been spending on movie and cable show rentals. Those little expenses were really adding up! ALSO: bird feeders are really fun and inexpensive entertainment, both for us and the kitties! Birds are great fun to watch!

• Cold weather savings: started wearing lots of layers instead of buying new clothing when the weather became much cooler a few weeks ago. (Double t-shirts are going to make me quite the fashion icon this year! )

• Kindle savings: Again, thanks to no debit card,  I stopped buying books for my Kindle and have only been reading books that are available for free via the Kindle store.  I've found some really great reads this way as well!

What are some ways you were frugal during December 2013?

A gluten-free weekly menu template for 365 days

BIG BIG BIG THANK YOU TO my sweet friend Jaime who kept my blog post open when it first went live (and therefore had a copy of the text) after I accidentally deleted it via my smarty-pants phone, which is obviously still smarter than I am! THANK YOU JAIME!!! You rock star You!

Okay... back to our regular programming...Let's try this again, shall we? 

Right before the holidays I upgraded to a smarty-pants phone. Something I had avoided for years mostly because I didn't want a more expensive cell phone bill. I knew I would love the ease and versatility of a smart phone, I just hated the thought of spending so much money on a device that I rarely, if ever, would actually use for phone calls. I actually avoid most of those at all costs!

But, as I suspected, I love the phone. Now, I barely spend any time on my netbook. Which can be a problem when you enjoy writing and online journaling.

Soon after getting the phone I discovered blogger had an app, so I had to try it. I'm hoping it will give me the opportunity to blog more often in 2014. Granted the posts may be short and sweet and with a few less pictures and even more grammatical errors (you're welcome!)

And since simplicity is one of my favorite things, it might just work swimmingly!

Over December I started getting really serious about making a weekly menu and being as frugal with our finances as possible. Actually, the frugality started a few months prior... but now groceries are getting into the act full swing as well as everything else!

At any rate, I realized that creating a menu every single week can be overwhelming to me...so after reading a few blogs and books on frugality I realized I could make one weekly menu that we could basically follow all year long. Flexibility is key. Foods can always be rotated and changed...but just think: the entirety of 2014 menus in one go! For me it has been such a huge weight off my shoulders.

As you will see below it's really just a template for creating easy meals any day of the week.

Simply come up with 8 - 15 of your favorite meals that you make really well and that your family loves and create different variations that be used in rotating weeks. I'm going to write more about this method in the weeks to come, but here is our basic template we've been using the past few weeks.

A Gluten-Free Weekly Menu Template for 365 Days:

- Sunday: roast or casserole or large amount of protein to use with several meals + green veggie.. [ie - roast chicken & green beans]

- Monday: soup [in cold months] or salad [in warm months] + gf bread or starch

- Tuesday: international [spaghetti, lasagne, tacos, stir fry, curries, etc...]

- Wednesday: tuna salad or salmon cakes or other easy fish entree + veggies + starch [bread or crackers for salad/sandwiches]

- Thursday: breakfast for dinner [oatmeal, fruit, eggs, bacon, sausage]

- Friday: FREE SPACE FRIDAY

- Saturday: leftovers or burgers/hotdogs or homemade pizza or quiche.

What's on your menu this week?

Seeking Joy Every Day - December Sanity Challenge 2013

This month my goal for the December Sanity Challenge has been to seek out joy, especially in the small moments. The everyday moments. And honestly after a few days, you suddenly begin to see joy all around you. Today I want to share with you a photo essay of joy I've found over the past two weeks!

 

Joy is: Going to a local production of  "The Grinch" and seeing the wonderful talent of people in your community! 

 Joy is: Seeing the smiling faces of friends & children you absolutely adore in a local Christmas production! 

photo from: Southern Blonde

Joy is: Seeing your finished stacks of Christmas cards and actually being slightly sad you finished them! It's a joy to connect with others on a personal level with hand-written notes through snail mail. 

Joy is: Being old enough to look forward too and actually enjoy the Annual Family Christmas Potluck! 

Joy is: The annual Family Bingo Tournament at said potluck dinner! (And if you don't love bingo, you have to love those bright, vivid buttons!)

Joy is: Seeing little ones fascinated by their picture reflecting back to them from a smartphone (Oh technology, how I'm learning to love you!)

Joy is: Winning a brand new set of crayons at said bingo tournament! Is there anything better than the scent of new crayons?

Joy is: Seeing the local Sudan club drivers at your small town Christmas parade!

Joy is: Getting really excited about your small town Christmas parade even when it's only about 20 minutes long and it's raining!

Joy is: Being grateful for those who give their talent and time as volunteer firemen serving rural areas!

Joy is: Smiling faces and handmade signs!

Joy is: Little boys tossing tootsie rolls from the big shiny firetruck with sirens blaring down main street!

Joy is: Still getting a thrill about seeing Santa show up at the end of the parade! 

Joy is: A hot steaming mug of my great-grandma's Russian Tea.

Joy is: Seeing three snuggling kitties on your bed, as Cheryl said, a big 'ol pile of wuv!

Joy is: A really sweet companion on chilly winter nights.

Joy is: Seeing the contentedness of a 12 year old furry friend.

Joy is: Seeing your "Sammie" hamster run up to you in her cage every time you enter the room!

 

Joy is: Keeping a record of all the amazing things that bring you joy and peace and gratitude! I recommend this really fun and beautiful journal, illustrated by Molly Hahn.

*What is joy to you? Do you look for it every day?*

*******************

A message from our host Cheryl Harris: 

The holidays can be a beautiful time of family bonding, celebration and beauty. They can also be an overdoing, overspending, over stressing time of all flavors of excess. For the last 3 years, I’ve been delighted to host the December Sanity Retreat and the July Self-Care Retreat. This is our 6^th retreat! It’s been wonderful for me to have an extra excuse to focus on self-care and rein in my natural tendency to need to bake (at least) 18 kinds of cookies.

 

I know how powerful it is for me to focus on self-care, and I imagine it’s similar for most of you, so as a gentle extra nudge, we’re doing 2 giveaways.

Giveaway #1: Let us hear your voice!

Prize: a $50 nuts.com gift certificate) they are not sponsoring, I just wanted something with healthy gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free, etc. options (US/Canada)

Comment on any of our hostesses’ posts on the Sanity Retreat, like this one. Leave me a comment on how you cultivate gratitude in your life, OR what you’re most grateful for on this week’s post HERE

Giveaway #2: make the challenge your own!

Blog on your own self-care plans, and a post will be chosen at random as the winner. If you don’t have a blog, contact the hostess of the week and they’ll post for you.

Prize: a box of fun things from me.

As always, self-care is whatever it means to you. So the December Sanity Challenge can be on whatever YOU need to work on to stay sane during the holiday season

Balance around food * Joyful movement * Sanity & stress management * Making space for art, expression, and spirituality * Connection with friends and family

Or whatever else speaks to you along those lines.

The challenge—post on what you plan to do to make your holidays sane, happy and healthy.  Make it specific!  Not just “I’ll get more sleep”, but “I’ll get at least 7 hours of sleep, 5 days a week”.  Not just “I won’t go crazy making desserts”, but “I’ll make a maximum of XX desserts, and space them out over XX time”.  You know what you need to do to keep this doable, and writing it down will help you get there!

I’m delighted to be joined by wonderful hostesses with like-minded blogs:

• Kickoff: Gluten Free Goodness 
• Dec 7th Kate of Eat, Recycle, Repeat
• Dec 14th Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl
• Dec 21^st  Valerie of City Life Eats
• Roundup: Gluten Free Goodness

I hope you choose to join us, too.  Grab a badge and we’re good to go!

We’ll also be meeting up in our Facebook group for extra encouragement and support. You’re more than welcome to join us there.

Posts so far:

• Valerie’s Kickoff post
• Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl’s Seeking Joy
• Eat Recycle Repeat’s Joy to the World

Cheryl's 30 days of gratitude:

• Day 1: Gratitude
• Day 2: Grateful for Genghis Khat
• Day 3: Grateful for amazing people
• Day 4: The roundabout road to gratitude
• Day 5: Grateful for beautiful weather
• Day 6: Grateful for New Experiences
• Day 7: Grateful for Local Apples
• Day 8: Grateful for Acts of Kindness
• Day 9 and 10: Grateful for Everyday Miracles