Homemade Dishwashing Detergent Tablets

I'm on a quest to make all of my own stuff.  Whatever it be, I want to figure out a way to do it myself, thus saving money (product, containers, gas, make-up to go get item ;) ), time, our health, and the earth (not to mention I just love creating things)!  I started with Homemade Laundry Detergent, easy Homemade hand-soap, All purpose cleaner, and there are at least three others that come to mind that I'm going to try and perfect before exposing the world to them.  This one was actually my favorite to make.  I guess because it makes cute little detergent cubes that are well-structured and self-contained...? I don't know, but anyway, this is really easy, especially considering I already had 3 of the 4 ingredients.  The two main ingredients are also two of the main ingredients in the homemade laundry detergent.  Do you see how all of this is starting to pull together and make money saving sense?

This is an old 52 oz jar of coconut oil that I washed.  I couldn't get the sticker paper off, so I just wrote on it!

Like I always mention (because I know how I think when looking at homemade recipes) if you're wondering "why would I go buy this stuff when I could just buy the pre-made detergent?"  Well, the answer is that this is WAY cheaper.  You buy a big box or canister of each, and you can make this recipe over and over, not to mention these ingredients can be used for a variety of other homemade recipes.  Plus these ingredients are considered natural and safe!

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Borax (found in the laundry aisle)

1 Cup of Super Washing Soda (laundry aisle, not the same as baking soda)

1 Cup of Lemi-shine (dish detergent isle) OR you can also use citric acid, I've even heard of people using powdered lemonade.  I think you could use lemon juice, but I haven't come up with the ratios for that yet.

1/2 Cup of Kosher salt or Epsom salt

Vinegar for your rinse cycle (if you have hard water)

All of these ingredients are considered "natural" and straight from the earth.  Lemi-shine is basically just citric acid derived from fruit.  You can purchase citric acid in bulk online for considerably cheaper than the Lemi-shine.  Even though the Lemi-shine is cheap, I always like to go as cheap as possible.  I'll be ordering my citric acid today. 

You'll also need:

A closable container (I've re-used a 52 oz jar of coconut oil, washed of course! A tupperware container or even a ziplock will do)

3 plastic ice trays 

A bowl or ziplock to mix the ingredients in

(these things can be washed and re-used of course, this is not poison :))

A mixing spoon

A tablespoon for measuring

Directions:

Mix Ingredients well in a medium sized mixing bowl or a large ziplock

Spoon 1 Tablespoon into each cube of the ice trays (feel free to use 1 tablespoon of the powder if you need detergent right away, the detergent is finished at this point, we just want to mold it into cubes)

Set aside (where children can't reach) for 24 hours (don't mess with it, it has to stiffen up)

After 24 hours break tabs out, and put them in your container!

Use 1 per load, and always use a little vinegar in your rinse cycle if you have hard water.  Otherwise you'll have streaky or foggy dishes.

If you don't have ice trays, you can get creative, or you can put this in a mixing bowl and let it sit out for 2 days, stirring occasionally.  If you don't stir, the citric acid will make this one big block!  You'll need a knife or ice pick then :(.  The ice trays are WAY less fuss in my mind.

This makes 48 loads.  Feel free to double or even triple the amount, if you wash a lot of dishes!  Here are the pictures of what this process looks like:

Mixing ingredients in a ziplock

1 Tablespoon in each "cube" section of the ice trays

After about 4 hours the edges begin to bubble and seperate

My Preciousssss! (24 hours later)

They fit right in the detergent dispenser!

My ugly Label!  The old sticker wouldn't come off, so I just wrote on it!  I plan to replace this today!  I can't stand it. (weirdo, I know)

 HAVE FUN!  Hope you enjoy your Homemade Dishwashing Detergent tabs!

Breaded & Baked Eggplant

Eggplant is one of those tricky vegetables that some LOVE but some say the texture is too strange.  If you cook eggplant just right though, you don't have that strange spongy or mushy texture that have turned away so many!  This is a tweaked version of a baked eggplant recipe I found in a book called "Vegan Homestyle".  My husband is a huge fan of this dish, and rightfully so... it's packed with flavor, takes up a large section of his plate, and presents beautifully :).  You may have tried the less healthy version at a little hole in the wall called "Olive Garden" ;], but it's been battered with white flour, filled with sodium, deep fried, and topped with that no-no mozzarella.  We'll this my friends is baked, and safe!  Enjoy this with a side of vegan Fettucini Alfredo, a nice salad, and or something green.  I usually serve mine with sweet peas or italian cut green beans.  This recipe makes enough for a family of four, with leftovers (lots, if you have small eaters).  Hope you likey!

This breading recipe and process is very similar to my tofu fillet recipe and equally as satisfying.  You may want to check out that recipe if I leave you confused on anything.

Breading Meal Ingredients:

This makes enough for two whole eggplants, half your ingredients if you're flying solo or cooking for 2

1 Cup whole wheat flour

8 Tbs. Nutritional Yeast Flakes

2 Tbs. Onion Powder

2 Tbs. Parsley (dried, not fresh)

1 tsp. Sea Salt

1 tsp. Paprika

Directions:

Mix well in a medium sized mixing bowl

Other Ingredients:

2 Large Eggplants (look for ones with no bruises or flaws)

1/4 to 1/2 Cup of vegan Mayo (like vegenaise or any homemade vegan mayo)

Spray olive oil (or a misto sprayer and your favorite olive oil)

1 Jar of Marinara (I prefer organic and Kosher, Barilla is a good brand)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Spray two (or three, depending on the size of your eggplant) cookie sheets with oil (even if they're non-stick, the flour will need the oil to make the badder stick), and set them aside

Slice both eggplants into 1/2 fillets, like shown below

Work quickly after cutting, because eggplant will turn brown if exposed to air for close to an hour

Smooth about a teaspoon of vegan mayo on each side the fillet, and place in flour bowl with flour

Gently turn over in the flour to make sure both sides are covered

Place on cookie sheet

Repeat process until ALL of the eggplant has been covered in vegan mayo and flour and placed on the cookie sheet

Once ALL of your eggplant is on the oiled cookie sheets, spray the tops of the eggplant with oil (you will see that instead of being dry and covered with flour, they are now looking damp.  You won't need a ton of oil, just enough to moisten the flour)  It should look like this:

Now, put your cookie sheets in the oven and bake for 45 minutes

Lift a fillet with a spatula to see that the underside is cooked, mine is always a little more brown than the top

You want your bread to be crusty and cooked, not wet

Assess from here as to whether you should let it cook for 10 more minutes or not

It should look like this:

When finished, remove from oven

Top with warm marinara, vegan mozzarella, or pesto!

Leftovers?  Use your breading meal for Tofu fillets later in the week and use your left over eggplant for sandwiches!  Yep, it's good!

Vegan Mozzarella Cheese

This can be used in anything that requires mozzarella cheese.  I love to use it in my Vegan Lasagna or on pizza, but it's good for a variety of different things.  I'm actually in the middle of doing another blog post about Breaded and Baked Eggplant (in which it can be used), and realized with a quick search that I had never posted about this cheese!  So I'm here for a quick jot down, with no frills or excitement.

I like to use this right out of the boiler, but if you want to make it in bulk or use it shredded, feel free to freeze it in a ziplock or a freezer safe container, and shred directly over your pizza dough (or whatever), while still frozen.  Put the remainder back in the freezer.  This will get gooey and melty like real cheese. It has lasted as long as 3 months in my freezer, but I've never had any left after three months, it might last a while longer.

I snagged this picture from my Sicilian Lasagna post!

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. Tahini Butter (peanut butter aisle)
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast flakes (healthfood store)
3 Tbs. Quick oats
2 Tbs. Lemon Juice
1 tsp. garlic powder
1.5 tsp. onion powder
1.5 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. Cornstarch
1 Cup of water

Directions:

Blend smooth, and thicken on low heat. stir every few minutes, and use immediately or freeze for later.  After it is frozen, it can easily be shredded with a grater, if you need it for pizza, or other recipes. 

Simple Homemade foaming Hand-soap

Like I mentioned before in one of my other Eco-me posts, it's going to take just a few simple ingredients, purchased in bulk to make ALL of your household cleaners, including the ones you bathe with.  One of the products that I want to always keep on hand is a natural Castile soap concentrate, like the many Dr. Brooner's Soaps available (at great prices, especially on Amazon).  Dr. Brooner's comes without fragrance, or with fragrance (100% essential oils only), and there are 18 different uses printed right on the label.  I was using my concentrate mainly for bathing the kids, but ever since my new journey into Do it yourself land, I've found new and interesting ways to use this liquid.  The great thing is that it's concentrated, so a little goes a long LONG way!  So without further-ado, I give you Foaming Hand-soap.  It is Ridiculously easy!

Ingredients:
~2 Tablespoons of Liquid Castile soap (Use a little more if you want it really soapy) (I used Rose Castile soap, because it's all I had on hand.  The smell isn't super loud, so it worked perfectly)
~3 drops of essential oil or Fragrance oil (optional, I used peppermint here)
~Water to fill dispenser
~Foaming soap dispenser (Re-use an old one, or purchase one for 89 Cents, right here at bulkapothecary.com)

**note- it has to be a foaming soap dispenser, otherwise your soap will come out watery and unmixed.

Directions:
Put your liquid castile soap into your dispenser bottle
Add Essential oil drops (if you choose to use one)
Fill with water to the neck of the bottle
Give a gentle shake

ENJOY!

I ordered 3 of these dispenser bottles; now we have homemade soap at our most used sinks.  One peppermint, one patchouli, and one "Coolwater"for the Man Sink.

**cas·tile soap  

Noun Fine, hard white or mottled soap made with olive oil and sodium hydroxide (Lye).

Simple homemade laundry detergent

Number two of the eco-me series!  I'm getting rid of the complex, chemical laden household supplies that I never knew I could live without.  As I'm researching the web and prodding my grandmother with questions about how they use to do things, I'm learning that with a few staples, you can do pretty much all of your household duties with ease.  AND it's MUCH Much cheaper!  I've ordered something called Soap nuts or soap berries that can be used alone as a soap for laundry, dishes, counters, floors, even your body and hair!  Now that is what I call ALL-NATURAL!  But I've heard some reviewers complain about its inability to get out tough stains.  Well, with a house full of boys, I'm going to need to keep something on hand just incase the soap nuts don't do the job on important clothing articles.  This laundry detergent is super easy to make (it literally took me 5 minutes my very first time), it is amazingly cheap, can be purchased in the grocery store, and there's no long list of chemical compounds that you cannot pronounce! YAY!  So without further or due, I give you the easiest recipe I could find on the web, with a little touch of me :D.  Thank you Potholes and Pantyhose for this great recipe!

Now, you may say "why would I want to buy these things and go through the trouble of making my own, when I could just buy the pre-made stuff?  Well, the answer is in the money breakdown (besides the fact that you know you're using good old fashion ingredients instead of all of that bad junk), not to mention, the boxes are still full after making a 48 load batch.  I'm not sure how many batches I could get out of these boxes, but I'm thinking at least 3 (just make sure you have 3 bars of soap).

What you'll need:
A Large storage container, that will hold 32 oz (tupperware, glass, or even a ziplock will do)
1 box of Borax
1 box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 bar of  Soap (I am making my own, but if you choose to use store bought, most recommend Ivory, Zote or Fels Naptha (found on the detergent Isle).  All of these brands are made with sodium tallowate, like most soaps,  which is extracted from animal fat.  If I were going to use a pre-made soap, I would purchase a castile soap, which is vegan.  I took this picture before I knew :(, but you can see my little homemade soap there at the bottom :).

For more information on these ingredients, please see the very bottom of this post.

Borax $3.38 for 76 oz = 9.5 Cups
Arm & Hammer $3.00 for 55 oz = 6.8 Cups
Soap $1.00 per 48 loads

Borax = $ .67  For 48 Loads
Arm & Hammer = $ .90  For 48 Loads
Soap = $1 For 48 Loads

Total = $2.57   for 48 Loads
that is = $ .05  Per Load

Average 48 Load Laundry detergent $11   Vs.  Homemade detergent $2.57?  Savings of  $8.43!
HELLO!

That being said, let's move on!

Directions:

Grate your bar of soap with a fine grater, or use your grater wheel in your food processor
Change your grater to a regular blade in your food processor if you chose to be lazy like me ;)
Process your soap for about a half a minute with the regular blade to chop up your soap slivers
Add 2 cups of Borax and 2 Cups of Super washing Soda to the processor with your soap
Process until mixed thoroughly, it should resemble regular washing detergent!
This batch makes 48 Loads

Put in an air tight container, and make a cutesy label, if you choose!  Use 1/8 Cup of detergent for regular loads, and 1/4 Cup for Super dirty loads!  I chose to put the recipe on my label, so that I don't have to go fishing for it when it's time to make a new batch.

I imagine you could use a blender to make this, or mix it by hand, but I haven't tried those methods, and was satisfied with the 5 minutes it took to complete this with a processor.

Enjoy for yourself, or give as a gift!

Copied and Pasted for your viewing pleasure :D

Borax

Chemical Compound from the earth

Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. Powdered borax is white, consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water. Wikipedia

Formula: Na2B4O7·10H2O

Molar mass: 381.37 g/mol

IUPAC ID: Sodium tetraborate decahydrate

Melting point: 1,369°F (743°C)

Density: 1.73 g/cm³

Boiling point: 2,867°F (1,575°C)

Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals), Na₂CO₃ is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate. Sodium carbonate is domestically well known for its everyday use as a water softener. It can be extracted from the ashes of many plants. It is synthetically produced in large quantities from salt (sodium chloride) and limestone by a method known as the Solvay process.

HOMEMADE VEGAN SOAP
Soap made by hot or cold processes, where a sodium hydroxide (lye) and water mixture,  along with oil molecules are bound together to form glycerin.  The Lye, once bound with the oil, makes a chemical change, and is enveloped in the oil, so that it is no longer caustic to the skin.

Homemade Anti-bacterial Cleaner

I've been on a new kick lately, my husband and I have decided that most people would die without wal-mart... no, I mean literally.  It seems like most people these days, especially my generation (1980's babies) and younger don't know how to survive without store-bought products.  No one even knows how to grow their own food, a basic skill that everyone knew a hundred years ago.  So, we've decided to start our own informal education on how to sustain without a bunch of store bought stuff.  Sure, I'll have to buy some basics in bulk, like vinegar, baking soda, essential oils, etc., but those things keep for a long time when stored properly, and can be used for a huge range of household needs.  This was my first attempt at making an all-purpose cleaner, and it will get the kitchen and bathroom clean without toxic chemicals and busting the bank.  I used it yesterday to clean the kitchen, and I was pretty well pleased over-all.  This spray can be used in conjunction with baking soda for hard build-up and nasty toilets.  I also found that with stuck on food and the like, it's better to spray on and leave for a minute or two before you wipe.  I plan to improve this lil' booger, but for now, it works!  Hope you'll enjoy your fume free home.

Ingredients:

1 empty spray bottle ( I used an old windex bottle)
1 glass jar ( I used an empty marinara jar)
2-3 Cups of vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
2-3 Cups of water (preferably distilled)
2-3 Cups of citrus peels (oranges, lemons, grapefruits, or a mixture)
10 drops of Tea Tree oil (optional, for anti-bacterial purposes)
5-10 drops of essential oil of your choice (optional, for smell only, I used Sweet Orange)

Vinegar and water work perfectly fine without the other ingredients, but the citrus peels give it more power, the Tea Tree oil adds an anti-bacterial, and the essential oil just adds a nice smell.  Feel free to omit any of it, besides the vinegar and water.

Directions:

Fill your clean glass jar halfway with vinegar (2-3 cups, depending on the size of your jar)
Stuff your leftover citrus peels into the jar, sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt, and put the lid on (the salt draws out the citrus oil), no need to refrigerate
Add your citrus peels each day, or feel free to peel all of your citrus and store the "meat"in a tupperware container in the fridge for later use, that way you can go ahead and fill up your jar!
Add your water as your jar fills with peels, so that they are always submerged
Give it a little shake every few days to mix up the vinegar and water
After about 3 to 5 days your mixture is ready to use!
Pour your liquid into an empty clean spray bottle and add your oils, close and give it a little shake
Refill your jar with vinegar and water
You can re-use these peels twice!

 Vinegar is about $2.00 per gallon, water is... well whatever your city charges or well pumps ( cents per gallon?), Orange peels are free, considering they're trash (if you eat a lot of fruit, like we do), essential oils can be a little pricey, but you only use a few drops and it's not even necessary.  I get great prices on essential oils at bulkapothacary.com.  I've heard that mixtures like these will last for months un-refrigerated.  So, you can continue to spend $5 or more on one bottle of cleaner, or you can recycle your bottles and jars, and spend a few cents per bottle with the additional satisfaction of making your own stuff, and ridding your home of toxic chemicals!

My husband hates the smell of vinegar, so I'm concocting something new as an alternative :/  Be on the look out!

Watermelon Pizza!

It's summer, and that means watermelon!  You can get super festive with this little treat.  I used the fruit that you see here, because it's the Fourth of July this week, and we're celebrating with Red, White, and Blue!  A friend of mine served this at potluck the other day, and I was delightfully surprised when I tasted it.  I thought it would taste like... well... watermelon, but the jam that's used at the base adds a pop of sweetness that is irresistible!  The kids will love this... and any other excitable pedestrians that walk by.

RED - WHITE - BLUE

Ingredients:

Strawberry jam (spreadable)

Fruit of your choice (pictured are: blueberries and coconut shredds)

Whole watermelon

Directions:

~Wash your fruit

~Cut watermelon in half, and then slice the same way in 1 inch portions (should be in circular shape, like a pizza)

~Cut each circle into triangles, like you slice a pizza

~Spread strawberry jam on each slice

~Top with your favorite fruit (such as kiwi, bananas, almond slivers, etc.)

ENJOY!

Thanks Jesse for the cool idea!