Homemade Liquid Hand Soap

I am sure you have empty liquid soap container laying around the house but no extra liquid soap to fill them up. I have read on the net about making homemade liquid soap my first thoughts were as follow...Why make it? Will it work the same? How hard is it to make it? Is it worth it?


I read that you use about 1 cup of soap shaving and about 3 cups of water so I filled the bottles with water ( I had 2 empty) twice then poured that into stainless steal.

I had a very small soap sliver of Glycerin left and shredded it with a small hand grater that I had.

I boiled the water then dropped the grater soap slivers into the hot boiling water for 1 min then turned it off to allow to cool.

Allowed to cool to room temp you will notice the difference in both color as well as it is thicker like pudding..

I was able to slowly pour it into the 2 bottles it was VERY THICK and Goopy yet to use it I just added a little more water into the bottle and pushed and it worked Perfectly and the cost was just Time...I will need to check the recipe in the AM and see if I needed to add more water to the bottles.


Update 6-1-11 The Goopy stuff got to be VERY VERY Thick to thick to get out of bottle via the pump so I have emptied it into another container and ALOT more water seems to be alot better...

Crochet Water Bottle Holder

Just whipping up a few water bottle carriers as the summer weather is picking up here in Phoenix...Takes less then 1 hour while watching TV

Meal Ideas

Like most of you the question you ask yourself when you open the frig or the pantry door what do you want? What sounds good to you? Well in my house I have been having more of an issue with I couldn't come up with what sounded good plus a list of meal ideas...to grab my attention when I want to plan dinner... So here is a list I created for me to grab my attention...

I divided it up according to these following categories.

Turkey

• Sloppy Joe
• Burgers
• Tacos
• Burritos
• Chili
• Taco Salad
• Spaghetti
• Lasagna
• Meatloaf
• Sheppard's pie
• Stroganoff
  

Chicken

• Shredded Chicken
• Burritos
• Chicken Wraps
• BBQ Chicken
• Honey Chicken
• Skillet Enchiladas
• Chicken Pot pie
• Panko Chicken
• Chicken Broccoli Casserole
• Chicken Wontons
• Fajitas
• Crockpot Fried Rice
• Stir Fry
• Kona Pizza

Soup

• Chicken Noodle
• Tomato
• Cheddar Broccoli
• Slow Cooker Taco Soup

Misc

• Quesadilla
• Pizza
• Baked Potato
  
• Fish Tacos
• Tuna Casserole
• Rice Bowls
• Pretzels
  

Crescent Dough Pizza

Pillsbury Seamless Dough Sheets for only 99 cents on sale... If I had a coupon it would have been less.....Great Deal
I quickly used parchment to line a large cookie sheet then rolled/stretched out the dough


Weeks ago I precooked shredded chicken in the crockpot for just grab and make a meal...This shredded chicken worked great for this pizza
A friend a work had purchased this jar to eat with chips but he didn't like it so I used it in the recipe as well....

Leftover steamed Broccoli was hiding in my refrig..I had a few days ago cooked up some mixed veggies

Shredded cheese from the frig ...So I quickly layered all the ingredients onto the dough rolled it up nicely then topped it with garlic & oregano and Butter.....



I was able to cut this up and eat 1/2 for dinner and the other 1/2 for lunch the next day for the cost break down listed below...

Precooked shredded chicken-Cost zero already in the house
Spinach Dip- Cost Zero got it from a co-worker
Veggies- Cost Zero already in the house ready to use
Shredded Cheese- Cost Zero already in the house ready to use
Dough Sheet- Cost 99 Cents

Quick Chili

I quickly needed a meal whipped together in under 30 mins to drop into my lunch box for work...I grabbed a can of Rotel Tomatoes however I prefer non-chunky puree so I poured the can into the food processor and gave it a quick spin....

I had some black beans in a container leftover from another meal so I grabbed them from the frig...

Leftover sauce to using in place of some of the tomatoes usually used in a chili recipe.


Cumin-Chili Powder-Cracked Peppercorns

I poured all the ingredients into a pot and simmered it for 30 mins then into a lunch container it went quick meal ready to go.

In a Jar

In my pantry I have lots of Jello and lots of Pudding I decided to give my little mini mason jars a new project to handle... Pudding in a Cup since purchasing these are around $1.00 for 4. The cost to me to have these on hand was very little this time around it was around 45 cents for 5 desserts how did I figure this out you may be asking...Well I had recently got some 1% milk on clearance the other day for .89 Cents made one batch of pudding using a large box which called for 3 cups of milk I figured I could make another batch using the other 45 cents :O) and still have enough for a cup of milk with dinner :O)

Freezer Meals

Recently I have seen an increase desire to have meals made ahead stored in the freezer ready to go. For when that new baby gets here or when someone has surgery and yes even when parents are getting a little older and need a few meals tucked in their freeze so you can rest better knowing they ate…

I have repeatedly typed over and over that same tips and recipes today after yet again doing this I decided we needed a blog where everyone on can share tips and recipes and I can update or link them into the blog to save time for EVERYONE….Plus this will allow everyone one place to locate them as well.

I am not making this perfect since life isn’t and I know I am not but along the way I am trying to help someone else who has the same questions I had just a few years ago find some answers and recipes…

Tips:

Use your slow cooker that can be your best friend in the kitchen..

Create a list of all the meal your family or u like...

Then next to the list above figure out how many times your family or you would eat said meal a week/month. This number will help you create a cooking plan..

Lets say your planning to do a 2 month menu/meal plan= 8 weeks you and your family plans to eat say 1 meatloaf one a week they you will need to make 8 meatloaves for those 2 months.

I prefer 8 x 8 pan size for meal for a few reason I will share since I have a family of 3 adults one being male who thinks he needs 2 pieces of main dish per meal I use 8 x 8 this allows for a total of 4 pieces with no leftovers to not get eaten.

Ziplock baggies work well for most meals as it allows/takes up less space then containers..

Label, Label, Label everything. (Recipe Name and Heating instructions if desired and anything else you need to know... Some people have placed this on index cards to assist with not writing on so they can reuse the bags for the next meal making session.)

Mexican Rice

Refried Beans

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup