Make your own homemade laundry detergent

A couple of months ago I did some research online to find a natural, homemade laundry detergent that worked as well (and I'm picky) as the Tide Free I was using at the time. I came across this guy's website diy natural and found his recipe to be quite easy and inexpensive...just what I was looking for!

First I went to my local Target, thinking I would easily find the ingredients there and for a good price too. I was only partially right, Target had a 10 pack of Ivory Simply Ivory 4.5 oz bars for a good price so I bought that. I also was able to find the 20 Mule Team Borax and purchased that there as well. Next I went across the street to the 99 cent store and found large bars of Zote for 50 cents and a box of Sun Bleach for a dollar (more on that later). I did not feel like driving all the way to Walmart to see what they had ( big mistake, my friend Darci found most of the ingredients there much cheaper!) so I stopped at my local Albertson's to see what they had, I was pleasantly surprised that they had everything there, so I grabbed up some Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda and a bar of Fels-Naptha.

I got home and plopped my bags down on the kitchen table, and proceeded to excitedly tell Eric that I found all the ingredients and where I found them...poor guy, he did listen and tell me he was happy for me :) Anyway, I made my first batch right away using most of a Zote bar (it's 7 oz instead of 4.5) as the soap of choice. I washed a few loads using the new detergent and it was good, but not great, I did finish the detergent before I made a new batch using a bar of the Ivory Simply Ivory soap...now this one I really like! For some reason, the clothes come out of the dryer feeling softer than when I used Tide and I didn't/don't use fabric softener. I have been using my Zout stain remover as usual the same way I did when I used my Tide detergent, I tried using a bar of Fels-Naptha as a stain remover, but I did not feel it worked very well.

Now that I've made a few batches, I've found that the best way to make it is to put in your borax and washing soda into a food processor and then grate your soap into the food processor bowl. When you are finished grating the soap, process the ingredients together for 30 seconds or so and you will have a well blended, "green", natural laundry detergent ready to go!

Matt Jabs Homemade Laundry Detergent

1  4.5 oz bar of soap
1 Cup of 20 Mule Team Borax
1 Cup of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

Add the borax and washing soda to the bowl of a food processor, then grate with a hand grater, the bar of soap into the bowl. Process for 30 seconds and then pour contents into a container with a lid, add a 1 Tbsp measuring spoon that you can dedicate as a measuring scoop for your detergent. Use 1 Tbsp for small loads and 2 for large loads.

The Sun Bleach I found at the 99 cent store is an oxygen bleach and can be used safely on whites or colors. I use it with my whites to help brighten them a bit.

I highly recommend having your children do the grating of the soap for you...for some reason they think it's fun :)

My handsome, serious Kade

My other handsome boy...Aiden grating as Eilan looks on.




Eilan's turn, she loves helping Mommy...mostly :)

All done with the grating... 

 After being processed for 30 seconds

Ready to be used!

Here is a direct link to Matt Jabs laundry detergent recipe, you will find a lot of useful information in the readers comments! diy natural laundry detergent

If you make this or have made it, please drop a comment on how you liked it!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I am thankful for God and his Son and his perfect plan of salvation, for all the blessings he has bestowed upon me and my family, for his love, guidance and protection and that his love and mercy is boundless!

May you all have a wonderful, happy, cozy, healthy Thanksgiving full of laughter and delicious food with your loved ones!

Here is a yummy cookie recipe...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from a recipe by George Duran of the Food Network)


1 C. (2 sticks) of butter, unsalted, softened
1 C. white sugar
1 C. light brown sugar (I used 1 1/4 C. of Palm/Coconut sugar)
2 Large eggs
1 tsp. of vanilla extract
1 can (15 oz) or 1 1/2 C. of pureed pumpkin
3 C. of gluten-free all purpose flour blend ( I used Namaste Perfect Flour Blend)
2 tsp. of baking soda
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/2 - 1 tsp. of cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice (or only 1 if you like the spice flavor more subdued)
2 C. of gluten-free chocolate chips (milk chocolate is recommended by George Duran, but I used semi sweet)
Parchment paper

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment or spray with non-stick spray.

Using a mixer, beat butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy (may not happen with the palm/coconut sugar and that's OK). Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter. Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheet(s) and bake for 11 to 17 minutes or until cookies are browned around the edges. Let cool for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack with a spatula.

These are very light and airy and cake like, not your usual crisp cookie...very delicious!! I'd love to hear what you think of them!

Dung Balls! (Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls)

Sorry for the title, I hope it didn't cause you to lose your appetite, my younger son took one look at these delicious balls and proceeded to tell me they looked like dung balls so I couldn't resist ;-)

I love the show "The Biggest Loser" it is so inspiring watching those people work their rears off to get healthier. I know It really encourages me to get off my own rear and eat better too! I'm not a fan of low fat (unless it is naturally low in fat) or non fat foods, I believe whole foods are the best way to go. I also do not use artificial sweeteners like Splenda, so I'm leery of the cookbooks that are put out by "The Biggest Loser". I came across their newest cookbook "The Biggest Loser Dessert Cookbook" and found the recipes in it quite versatile, meaning I can sub the non fat or low fat dairy products and whatnot with their whole fat, whole food counterparts quite easily. Devon Alexander is at her best in this one!

Here is one of the recipes from the book that I have tried and love...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls by Devon Alexander in "The Biggest Loser Dessert Cookbook"

1/2 C. + 2 TBSP of Old Fashioned Oats ( I used Gluten-Free Oats by Bob's Red Mill)

2 TBSP of honey

2 TBSP of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 TBSP of all-natural creamy peanut butter

Add oats, honey, cocoa powder, and peanut butter to a medium mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer fitted with beaters, mix until well combined. Lay a large square of wax paper on a cutting board or flat work surface. Using your hands, divide the mixture into equal portions (the mixture will be sticky), and place on the paper. Roll each portion into a ball. Serve immediately or store on the counter top in a resealable container for up to 3 days.

Steph's Tips: I recommend doubling or tripling the recipe (after you have made them and like them first). If you do this, then put the ingredients in a Kitchenaid type mixer otherwise using the mixer and beaters will make the mixture fly out all over the counter. Instead of dividing the mixture into equal portions, I just pull a small amount out and roll into balls and place on the wax paper.

Also you can use almond, sunbutter or any other nut butter you love in place of the peanut butter.

My husband would like to add a decorating tip...he thought it would be fun to add plastic dung beetles around the table top or around the dish containing the balls...cute huh?!

Don't worry they are far from tasting like dung ;-)

Roasted Vegetables

I have been on a roasted vegetable jag this past week, it's a delicious way to get more vegetables into my diet. It's also a tasty way to use up any vegetables you have laying around so they don't go to waste. The best combination in my opinion is:

Potatoes or sweet potatoes
Carrots (I like baby carrots, no chopping required)
Red Onion (you can use any onion you like, red onions are my favorite)
Broccoli (optional, but so delicious when roasted)
Beets (optional, so full of fiber and delicious!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium or large bowl, depending on how much you are making, add your vegetables after you have peeled and chopped them (peeling is not absolutely necessary). When all the vegetables have been added to the bowl, drizzle olive oil (enough to coat) over them, then drizzle some balsamic vinegar as well. Add plenty of salt (several good size pinches depending on how much you are roasting) and some pepper. With your hands mix them all together to coat evenly. Have a baking sheet nearby covered with some parchment paper, pour onto parchment and spread out evenly. Bake for 20-30 min. depending on how much you are roasting. After 20-30 min. take out baking sheet and with spatula, mix the vegetables around a little, then put back in oven for another 20 min., they should look nice and caramelized and smell wonderful!

I love the savory, sweet flavors, it makes me feel all warm and happy inside...perfect comfort food! I would love to hear what some of your favorite combinations of veggies to roast are!

Delicious, healthy toppings for your yogurt.

Now that you've made some crock pot yogurt or you have some of your favorite plain store bought yogurt, what do you do with it? Good news, your options are boundless! Here are some of my ideas that you may find tempting...

1. Sweetener- I have found liquid types like raw or regular honey, agave and liquid stevia to be best for yogurt since they blend well and keep the yogurt texture nice and creamy. Granulated sugars will be gritty, however stevia powder may work. I personally like NuNaturals Pure Liquid Vanilla Stevia (can be found online at iherb or in certain health food stores), it has a very nice vanilla flavor and is not bitter.

2. Fruit- Any fresh or frozen fruit can be a topping for your yogurt. If you have some fresh strawberries (if frozen set them out to thaw for a bit) put a cup of them in your food processor and pulse a few times if you like them chunky or longer if you want a nice, smooth puree. Add some honey, agave or stevia to sweeten the strawberries to your liking then add to your yogurt. Fruits like raspberries or blackberries have seeds that can bother your teeth, so puree them in your food processor or blender then strain the juice through a fine mesh wire strainer.

3. Essential Oils- Adding pure, food grade Essential oils can be a delicious and healthy way of flavoring your yogurt. I would only flavor the amount you will be eating right away, as EO's are naturally anti-bacterial and may effect the beneficial bacteria of your yogurt. Lemon and Orange are wonderful flavors...and I recommend using Young Living's pure, food grade EO's, they can be found on my Young Living website.

4. Nuts-Using your favorite nuts as a topping, adds a wonderful crunch and a pleasing, tasty layer of texture as well as a source of beneficial, heart-healthy fats.

Here are a couple of my recipes to get you started...

Baked Cinnamon Apples

Organic Braeburn Apples (or your favorite kind)

Hormone free butter

Cinnamon sugar (see recipe for this here)

Preheat your oven to 400 Degrees. Use 1 TBSP of butter for each regular size apple, if using small apples like I did, use a approx. 1/2 TBSP of butter for each one. Use a TBSP of Cinnamon Sugar for each regular size apple and only 1/2 TBSP for the small ones.

Peel and slice your apples in thin slices, here I'm using my Apple, Corer, Peeler, Slicer...love it! You'll end up with these little, cored out, spiral sliced apples.

Slice them in half and you'll end up with crescent shaped apple slices...perfect!

Put all your apple slices in a bowl and melt your butter either on the stove or in the microwave for approx. 30 seconds. Pour melted butter over the slices as my oldest son is demonstrating here.

Sprinkle your Cinnamon Sugar over the buttered apple slices. My daughter is helping her Mommy with that.

Here is my younger son mixing it all together. Are you detecting a trend? Yep, this is perfect for kids to help make, it's fun and tasty!

Pour the contents of the bowl in a 13" x 9" baking pan. No need to butter the pan! Place in preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes, take out the pan, stir the apples and put back into oven. Bake for another 20 minutes.

Stick a sharp knife into apples to test for tenderness, if they pierce easily then the apples are done. Let sit and cool on the counter top, then...

top your sweetened yogurt with it...you could add some nuts on top as well.

Blackberry Sauce

2 C. fresh or frozen blackberries

Your favorite sweetener ( I used 5 drops of NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia liquid)

Put blackberries in food processor or blender and blend till you have blackberry puree. Place a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and pour your puree into the strainer. Using the back of a spoon, smoosh the puree through the strainer till all you have left is seeds...and there will be a lot of seeds! Add your sweetener to the blackberry sauce, adjusting as needed to your taste.

Spoon over yogurt, ice cream, oatmeal, etc...

Your taste buds will thank you, your body will thank you, your family will thank you...need I say more ;-)

What are some of your topping ideas?

Yes, You Can Make Yogurt In The Crock pot!

I first learned about making yogurt in the crock pot from Stephanie O'Dea's blog A Year of Slow Cooking, she had tried the recipe and said it was great, so I decided to try my hand at it and was pleasantly surprised at how easy and inexpensive it was to make homemade yogurt without buying any special yogurt equipment. This is my third time around, so while I am not a pro, I am pretty comfortable with the routine and have had nothing but successes! Here is the link to the original recipe from Stephanie's website How to make Yogurt in the Slow Cooker 

I have taken some pictures and documented the process. As you will see it's extremely easy to make, just takes a bit of time...

Crock pot Yogurt

1/2 Gallon of Organic Whole Milk (or at least hormone free milk like Alta Dena)

1/2 C. of plain or vanilla yogurt (the vanilla won't change the flavor much) must contain live/active cultures

Poor the cold milk into your crock pot and turn it on low, let it cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.

After cooking it on low for 2 1/2 hours, turn off your crock pot and unplug it. Keep the cover on your crock pot, and let the milk sit for 3 hours. Let your store bought yogurt sit on the counter and come to room temp for the last hour.

After letting the milk sit for 3 hours, scoop out 2 cups of the warm milk into a medium bowl, add the 1/2 C. of store bought yogurt and whisk into the warm milk. Pour it all back into your crock pot and briefly whisk it all together. Put the lid back on your crock pot and cover it completely with two heavy bath towels for insulation. Let it sit undisturbed for 8 hours.

After 8 hours, take off the towels and the lid, and check your yogurt, it will be thickened but still a bit watery. Take a large, fine, mesh colander and line it with cheese cloth or even paper towels (mine were plain white) and place over a large bowl, pour the yogurt into the colander and let the excess liquid drain overnight in the fridge or a day and a half as I did in this case. Draining overnight or for 8 hours will result in thick and creamy yogurt, letting it sit longer makes yogurt cheese...yum!

A lot of liquid gets drained out and results in...

this thick and creamy deliciousness!

I love that it is essentially a blank slate that can be sweetened and topped with whatever tickles your fancy at the moment. I have found that liquid type sweeteners are best as granulated sugar does not dissolve well and will taste gritty. Honey, agave and liquid stevia are great! Stay tuned...tomorrow's post is all about toppings and my recipe for Baked Cinnamon Apples!

Healthier Cinnamon Sugar

I was about to name this post "Healthy Cinnamon Sugar" when I remembered, sugar of any kind is really not healthy, so I changed it to healthier, which it is and just as delicious as regular white sugar! I cannot quite remember how I came across coconut sugar or palm sugar as it is often called, it may have been mentioned in one of the blogs that I frequent, nevertheless I was very intrigued and wanted to try it since I read that GI index was 35...pretty low for a sugar and safe for diabetics!

Here is some information from the Navitas Naturals website:

Coconut palm trees are the natural source of this new wonderful and healthy sweetener alternative. Traditional sugar farmers collect the nectar of the blossoms from these sustainably grown trees, and carefully craft a caramel-like crystal sugar. Perfect as a 1:1 cane sugar replacement, Navitas Naturals Palm Sugar is easily incorporated into everything culinary, from favorite dessert recipes to homemade lemonade. Safe for diabetics and those looking for weight control, palm sugar is a naturally low glycemic index food (GI35), boasting almost half the GI of cane sugar. With vitamins like B and C, and minerals such as potassium, magnesium, zinc, and iron, Palm Sugar really is the sweetest way to healthy lifestyle.


Navitas Naturals website
Source and Processing


Navitas Naturals Palm Sugar is made from the sun-kissed sweet juice of the tropical coconut palm sugar blossoms. Once the nectar is collected, it is kettle-boiled into a thick caramel, dried, and ground into a fine crystallized powder. Our Palm Sugar is 100% organic, vegan, kosher, and sustainably-grown.

Healthier Cinnamon Sugar

1/2 C. Palm/Coconut sugar

1 Tbsp Cinnamon

Have a wide mouth glass jar ready and a small bowl for mixing. Pour the 1/2 C. of sugar into small bowl and add the tbsp of cinnamon.

Stir well.

Pour into your jar using a funnel to avoid a mess, then label.

Here, I have two slices of Udi's gluten-free whole grain bread, toasted and slathered with raw butter and sprinkled with the delicious cinnamon sugar. Makes a wonderful breakfast or snack that you can feel good about serving to your family.

Enjoy!

Many health food stores are now carrying the palm/coconut sugar, it can also be found online. I like iherb, they are fast and dependable, their prices can't be beat! As a customer, I can offer a discount code for $5.00 off your first order FAT433