Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Herbs





    I have always wanted a little herb garden. For the last few years  I have tried to grow herbs and have failed miserably. This year my herbs are doing great! I started my seeds in the greenhouse and transplanted them into a raised bed near my kitchen. I'm growing mint, dill, basil, caraway, sage, oregano, thyme, pineapple sage, rosemary, stevia, parsley, catnip, and cilantro. I so enjoy drinking fresh herb water throughout the day or drinking a cup of mint tea in the evenings. And you can't beat cooking with fresh herbs! I plan to grow more herb varieties such as medicinal herbs in the future.
 

We have started drying some of our herbs to put up for future use when fresh herbs aren't available. I've been hanging them to dry from our doorframe in our dining area.



My daughter and I put some dried herbs in 1/2 pint jars and labeled them for future cooking and tea.


 

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Homemade Dishwashing Powder




   In our family we try out a lot of do-it-yourself recipes and projects. Some work, some flop. Recently, my husband bought me a new dishwasher. We haven't had one for a few years so this has been a real treat! I found a recipe online for homemade dishwashing detergent. I tweaked it a bit and am very pleased with the results. My dishes are sparkling clean and the dishwashing powder only cost me pennies. Can't beat that!


 
Homemade Dishwashing Powder Recipe
1 cup Super Washing Soda
1 cup Borax
1/2 cup Kosher Salt (or any other course grained salt)
2 small packets of sugar-free lemonade kool-aid
1/2 bar of my soap, grated

I'm storing the detergent in a quart sized mason jar. 1 Tbsp is used per load. This will wash approx. 24 loads of dishes. I'm using white vinegar as a rinse aid...another penny saver. Happy home keeping!


“She looks well to the ways of her household..."
                                                                   Proverbs 31:27