MIY: Dryer Sheets

Last week, I made dryer sheets. I have used them in several loads now & really like them! My laundry smells great, they are cheap & I know exactly what is in them. I looked up several different "recipes" online and this is what I came up with. Once I got the essential oil, which I got from Amazon for about $8, I had everything I needed. I used lavender but wouldn't lemon smell wonderful?!?!

Here is what you'll need:
Old shirt or rag
2 c. vinegar
20-30 drops of essential oil
Old jar or vessel to store

 

Cut the shirt or rag into approx. 6in squares. Add vinegar & oil to jar & swirl to mix. Add rags. When ready to use squeeze out some of the liquid {But do not wring it all out} After load is dry just throw the dried rag back into the jar! Easy as that!

Friday's Freezer Friendly- PB &J?!?!

Yes, I am posting about freezing PB &J!
Have you seen these "Uncrustables" in the store? Seems so silly to me to BUY premade Pb&j!

 

 

But I did think that making ahead & freezing pb&j might work great for this household. See, it takes me awhile to use a whole loaf of bread before it goes bad. So, I got out Pampered Chef's Cut N Seal & decided to give "Uncrustables" a try!

 

Sidenote: Originally, I did not want to cave to Cora's level & remove the crust. But then I decided, "I don't care if she doesn't eat the crust. What's the big deal? It's what 3 year olds do. Plus, she eats A LOT of things other kids won't touch. If cutting the crust off makes her feel special, I'm happy to do it!"

 

Aren't these cute? I wrapped each one in a sandwhich bag & then put them all in a gallon freezer bag.

(If you need the recipe, you're in trouble! HAHA!)

Indiana Trip

I am back from my Indiana trip! Phew- I was busy! 2 years ago I posted here about an Indiana trip consisting of canning & preserving. I think I was even more busy this year....maybe the fussy 7 mo old had something to do with that?!?!?
The trip started off w a BANG at the Indiana State Fair! Ken's sister graciously offered us to stay at her house for 2 nights & we visited the fair all day Saturday, August 3rd. The kids had so much fun! The Indiana State fair has become a tradition for the Stoner family :)
Sunday Jackie, me & the girls loaded up in our van & headed to Valpo while Ken went back to Peoria for work.
Monday I took my friend, Jenna, to her first chemo treatment. She is fighting her battle against breast cancer like a warrior. (This is why there is a "Donate to Jenna" tab at the top right of the page)
Tuesday & Wednesday I processed 3 bushels (yes, 6 half bushels) of Peaches! Ah, my absolute favorite thing to preserve! Visit this post on how to freeze peaches. I froze a bunch, canned halves, canned peach salsa & peach butter. I also put up 20lbs of blueberries & approximately 20 qts of sweet corn.
Thursday my mom, sister-in-law, her girls & me & my girls spent the day in Shipshewana, IN aka Amish Country! I love going- we never  seem to have enough time though! We spent about 2 hours in a bulk food store. And honestly I could have stayed longer ;)
Friday & Saturday I prepared for a Pampered Chef show!
All & All it was a great week! Looking forward to next year!

 

In front of the beloved Dairy Barn

Cora's favorite, the carousel

So glad they had each other

Cora's 1st elephant ear! She loved it!

Watching the sheep show w Daddy

On the trolley that took us all around the fairgrounds

Evie had dinner at Grandma Stoner's aka Gma Evie :) This picture is priceless to me!

Beautiful peaches

Cora had a blast w all of her IN cousins. Maybe too much fun "cleaning" the brownie pan?!?!

Shipshewana. Rise N Roll bakery! YUM!

Ooops, sorry Evie, just now realizing I cut you out of this picture!

My E & S goodies!

MIY: Foaming Hand Soap

Over the weekend I made foaming hand soap~ Super duper simple! I love foaming soap for Cora b/c it doesn't pump as much out & it is easier for her to get it all off by herself. She helped me make it :)

You'll Need:
1 old foaming soap bottle, empty
2 tbsp. of any non-lotion, soap
water

Add 2 tbsp. of soap to the empty foaming bottle. Fill half way w/ water. Swirl the bottle around to mix. {Do not violently shake!} Add more water to fill the bottle. DONE!



Little hands testing out our new creation :)

Make It Yourself:: Brownie Mixes

I got the inspiration for this from Money Saving Mom. What a GOOD idea, homemade brownie mix. No more boxed brownies for this household. I love having these mixes premade in my pantry b/c the prep time is cut in half when I decide we need brownies for dessert!
Today, I made 3 mixes. Too many at once might mean they go bad before I use them, as they are recommended to be used w/i 3months.

Here is what you'll need for each dry mix:
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. baking coco
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

On the bag write the wet ingredients needed for baking:
2 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
*Optional, add chocolate chips, white chips, nuts or raspberries just before baking

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes

 

 

 

 

Freezer Friendly Friday- Individual Frozen meals

So I just got the brilliant idea to make individual frozen meals, especially for Ken's lunches. I used to buy SmartOnes or Lean Cuisine meals but only when I could get them for right around a dollar a piece, which is getting harder and harder. Ken is now sick of them and lets admit it- they really aren't the best tasting and they are loaded w/ sodium.
I started off w/ 2 different recipes that I know freeze well: Stuffed shells & Lone Star chicken enchiladas w/ Mexican rice! Today, I am sharing how I prepared the chicken enchiladas.



Lone Star Chicken Enchiladas (recipe originally from Taste of Home):

1 (2lb) whole fryer chicken, boiled, skinned, shredded

1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, drained well

3/4 c. salsa verde

1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies

1 c. black olives, sliced

1 tsp each: cilantro, chili powder, cumin

S & P to taste

1 c. half & half or Vitamin D

1 Tbsp. AP flour

12 flour tortillas, warmed

1-1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese, divided

 

-In a large bowl combine: shredded chicken, tomatoes, salsa, chilies, olives seasoning and 1/2 c. of the cheese.

-In a shallow bowl combine half & half plus flour. Whisk until flour is incorporated.
-Dip 1 tortilla into milk mixture then fill w/ aprox. 1/3 c. of chicken mixture. Roll up & place in a Glad freezer container. (Because I am doing individual frozen meals I put 1 enchilada in each container)

The filling

Finished individual meal

Mexican Rice
 1 Tbsp. butter
3 stalks of green onion
1 small red bell pepper
1 c. white rice
S & P to taste
1/2 tsp each: cilantro, cumin, parsley & garlic powder

- Melt butter in a medium sauce pan.
-Add green onions & bell pepper & cook until softened (about 5 minutes)
-Add rice & cook about 3 minutes.
-Add S & P and other seasonings
-Add 2 c. water
-Bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to simmer and simmer for 20 minutes.
-When finished, fluff w/ a fork.

Friday's Freezer Friendly~ Pizza Pockets

I got this idea from Money Saving Mom during her "4 Weeks to Fill your Freezer" series. She happened to post this idea a few days before I was already planning on making homemade pizza for dinner- How perfect?!?! I just made extra dough, chopped more veggies and assembled these before dinner {During NAP time} This whole process from start to placing in freezer took 2 hours!

Homemade Pizza Pockets
Dough:
2 yeast packets
2 c. warm water
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. olive oil + 1 Tbsp.
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
3 c. whole wheat flour
2-3 c. AP flour
-Dissolve yeast in water. Let stand alone a few minutes until it gets bubbly.
-Meanwhile, add salt, 4 tsp. olive oil and Italian seasoning to Kitchen Aid mixer.
-Add yeast mixture.
-With the hook attachment add whole wheat flour 1 c. at a time, mix until combined.
-Add AP flour in 1/2 c. increments until dough is no longer sticky.
-Knead for 5 minutes.
-Add 1 tbsp. olive oil to a large bowl. Place dough in bowl, turning once to coat w/ oil.
-Cover w/ a towel and let it sit to rise. {I put mine on my stove while I was cooking sausage and pizza sauce. It doubled in size in about 20minutes}

Filling:
Supreme pockets:
Pizza sauce, homemade or jarred
1lb. pork sausage, cooked
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can black olives, sliced
1 c. mushrooms, sliced
8oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

Hawaiian pockets:
Pizza sauce
1 c. pineapple, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 c. ham, chopped
cheese

Topping:
Olive oil
Italian seasoning

To Assemble:
-Pull off dough and roll into a ball in your hands. (About golf ball size)
-On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about 6 inch circle.
-Fill w/ sauce first, toppings then cheese.
-Fold over and pinch w/ a fork
-I used different colored tooth picks to distinguish supreme, Hawaiian and I made 3 for Mae {sauce, cheese and black olives}
-Brush w/ extra olive oil and sprinkle Italian seasoning on top.
-Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes
-Allow to cool completely!!!
-Transfer to a Ziploc gallon bag and Freeze!

Hawaiin Pocket

I only got 13. I was hoping for 18!

I made 3 specially for Mae= sauce, cheese & black olives. Then I put hers in a sandwich bags and labeled MM's

Homemade YOGURT

***Update: I changed up how I make my yogurt. It's so much quicker and results in a thicker consistency. If you want to make yogurt at home quickly and have the attention to babysit it in the beginning follow these instructions. Below I have how I used to make it in my crock pot.

Ingredients:
1/2 gallon milk (any percentage will work)
1/2c. Plain yogurt (I always freeze a half cup from my previous batch. The 1st time I made yogurt I used Dannon)

Instructions:
-Pour milk into a large stock pot.
-Over low heat, scald the milk, stirring occasionally & removing any skin that forms. {Scalding milk is to bring just before boiling. Several ways to know your milk is scalded. Temperature should be around 185, milk smells sweet, & the top get frothy} Stay close to kitchen during this process. You do NOT want it to even simmer & the bottom will burn if you do not stir, scraping the bottom!
-Once the milk is scalded, turn off the heat and bring the temperature down to 115.
-Once milk is at 115 degrees add the 1/2 c. plain yogurt.
-Put a tight fighting lid on pot and wrap in several kitchen towels. {Keep it wrapped. No peeking!! I put my pan in a Pyrex travel case w/ the hot pack heated up! I also recently got a heat pad that I put underneath}
-Let sit on the counter for 8 hours.
-After 8 hours. Remove towel and stir yogurt. Place in refrigerator overnight. If whey forms just stir into yogurt. It's normal for it to do that.
-The next morning: Reserve 1/2c. for your next batch of yogurt. You can freeze this! This way you won't need the Dannon next time.
-I wanted Greek style yogurt so I strained mine in cheese cloth over a colander. Do this in the morning after its sat in fridge over night. This process is quick, about 20 minutes. You can let it sit longer or shorter depending on the consistency you'd like.
-Now is when you can add flavors!!! I've tried several different ways. Ken & I like it w/ just honey. Miss Mae likes it w/ a strawberry or blueberry sauce.

Scalding milk

Showing how I wrapped it during incubation. The blue on the bottom is the heat pad it was on low for the first 5 hours. After  this picture I zipped up the carrying case and put 2 more towels on top.

My breakfast the next morning: Homemade yogurt, homemade blueberry sauce, homemade granola :)

Homemade Laundry soap

Check out http://www.mangoliaandboothe.blogspot.com/! This is Kenny's cousin's blog. She posted a few months ago about making her own laundry detergent. I knew it was something I wanted to try but my mother had just gotten a high efficiency washer and given me about 5 bottles of laundry soap she could no longer use. (I also got a large bottle from my friend Dawn bc she too got a new HE washer) I thought I would make my own once those bottles were gone- I still have 1 bottle left and decided to use it on our bedding because the homemade doesn't have much of a fragrance! And so today I made it!!! I altered her recipe a bit just out of convenience!

Her recipe :
4 cups grated soap (I use Fels Naptha)

4 cups Baking Soda
4 cups Washing Soda
8 cups Borax
Use approx. 1 Tablespoon per load

Heres what I did:
4 bars Ivory soap, grated (that I got for FREE couponing)
1 4lb. box Borax (It was about 9 cups- I just added it all bc I wanted to use it all up)
1 3lb. box Washing soda (I measured out 4 c. and there was a few cups leftover, so I just threw the rest in)
4 c. baking soda

- It took me about 10 minutes to make!
- I thought grating the soap was going to be very time consuming, but Ivory's texture was perfect. I just chopped w a knife and it crumbled good!
-It has no fragrance. Kenny's cousin told me the biggest difference she noticed was its not fragrant
-It gets stains out well, great for babies clothes and HE washers!
-Store in an air tight rubbermaide container about 2.5-4 gallon size.

It cost me $14.34 total including my storage tote. So next time I make this it will cost me $7.87! This should last me close to a year! That's HUGE savings on laundry soap!

Thanks again, Jenica!

Homemade bread crumbs

Every week I have several pieces of bread left that doesn't get used because it starts to stale. I try to waste as little as possible in my home. So, I decided to make homemade bread crumbs! I know, Great Value bread crumbs are only $1.33 for 15 oz. But I have everything I need- stale bread, a dehydrator and time! I stick the left over pieces in the fridge or freezer to prevent molding.When I have what I feel will make a substantial batch I get to work! 

Place bread on trays wo any parts touching

Set temperature to 145 degrees

Let dehydrate for 1 hour

Place hard bread in food processor and blend until perfect consistency

This time I got 6 cups of bread crumbs! Of course, depending on how much bread you have will depend on how many cups you'll get. I put 3 cups in an air tight container and into my pantry. The other 3 c. I froze! I'll have enough bread crumbs to last me months w virtually no work. Another plus- my bread crumbs are whole wheat! :)