Save on homemade Dishwasher Detergent

HOMEMADE DISHWASHER DETERGENT

for .01½  cents a load (no kidding)

Oxyclean, Palmolive Dishwashing detergent, Lemonaid Kool-Aid

Finished product

Left Homemade              Right Storebought 

            

     I FINALLY discovered a super cheap, super easy, super great formula for making my own dishwasher detergent!  I found a similar recipe (I will call the “Mother Recipe”) and tweaked it a bit resulting in a less expensive formula J)

  And, it REALLY does work!!!!

1.      First, go to the Dollar Tree and buy some Awesome Oxyclean – or…. Oxygen (I think that’s what its called :p)...  Cost $1.00

2.      Pick up a bottle of liquid Palmolive Dishwashing Soap.  The Mother Recipe calls for Dawn.  I tried that, but frankly, Dawn is too dang expensive.  BUT, DO NOT USE A CHEAP STORE BRAND (like Sun).  IT WILL NOT WORK...  Cost $1.00 but you only use half, so the cost is .50 for this batch.

3.      Then, when you go to the grocery store, buy yourself a dollars worth of Kool-Aid Lemon-aid.  They are .20 a pack and  you only need one pack for one batch of detergent...  Cost .20

4.     Pour the entire jar of Oxyclean into a large bowl.  Add almost half a bottle of the Palmolive.  If you have to measure, then figure ONE-HALF (1/2 ) of the liquid dishwashing soap to the Oxyclean.  So it’s a 2-1 ratio.

5.      Then dump in your Kool-Aid.  Mix really good.

6.    Pour into your containers.  The batch will harden a little overnight.  If that happens, just use a fork & break it up.  It is okay if it does this.

7.     Use one heaping teaspoon per load into your dispenser.  (I do not measure this out because I use the regular teaspoons I eat cereal with & kind of level it out, but you can experiment.)

8.   Pour ½ cup vinegar in a custard cup & place the cup on the top rack in your dishwasher.  Fill your rinse dispenser with Vinegar also.

The homemade Dishwasher Detergent measures out to be about  135 teaspoons.

You only need 1 teaspoon per load

TOTAL COST $1.70 or less than 1½  cents a load!!

 And, it REALLY does work!!!!

Save By Dining In

     

(we did & spent $1.68 for two)

 

The one thing my husband and I like to spend money on (besides Food Storage) is going to our favorite restaurant Applebees once every 2-3 months. 

We love that little restaurant because of the 2 FOR $20 MENU. You get an appetizer & 2 entrees for $20.00.  (We get the 7 oz Sirloin Steak - with veggies or the Bourbon Street Chicken & Shrimp - with veggies.)   Both come with mashed or baked potatoes.  For our beverage we order water with lemon slices (and make our own lemonade :p) because we don't want soda at night.

The cost for this dinner is.........$20.00

Sometimes, not always, we finish off our dinner with a Triple Chocolate Meltdown with a large scoop of ice cream that Barry & I share (only because it is sooo rich and we already have full tummy's from dinner & the appetizer).   

                                                                   Dessert Cost… $5.99

                                                                      15% Tip…… $3.99

                                                                    Total Cost… $30.00

Not bad for a nice dinner.

But, sometimes you don't have the thirty bucks to spend on dining out  - or you forgot to calendar it in.  Like our  2^nd  Anniversary.  (Don’t ask me why :p)  

So, we decided to have an intimate candlelight dinner at home.

To start the day off, my thoughtful husband went outside & cut two of the most delicate peach colored rose’s I had ever seen.  Their tender rose pedals were just beginning to open like the eyes of a newborn kitten.  In a vase they just glistened alongside two taper candles.

Then I pulled from the freezer 2 steaks my girlfriend had swapped me for a loaf of  Bonnie's Whole Wheat Bread.  My bread costs me less than .25 a loaf to make so when she offered a swap I jumped at the idea. 

Barry makes the most delicious, mouth-watering, medium rare steaks I have ever tasted.

Cost for Steaks…. .25c

For Thanksgiving we had purchased Russet Potatoes on sale for .99 for 10 pounds & still had some left.  2 potatoes weighed 1 pound.  At 10 pounds for a dollar 1 pound was only TEN CENTS.  

Cost for Baked Potatoes…. .10c

I like Sweet Potatoes so on that same Thanksgiving sale I picked up 2 large Sweet Potatoes for .50 each.   I had one left so for our “Dinner Date” I baked it for me.   

Cost for Sweet Potato…. .50c

A few days prior I ran across a super great deal at Grocery Outlet for Del Monte Sweet Peas at just .33 a can (I bought 5 cases :p).  They were pretty tasty with a little salt & a tablespoon of butter.

Cost for Sweet Peas…. .33c

  

In a basket lined with one of my prettiest linen napkins I put in some of my Homemade Whole-Wheat Dinner Rolls  (see below) that cost about .50 for three dozen.  These are sooo good you can eat them with or without butter.

Cost for Dinner Rolls…. .50c

     For dessert we had FRESH chunks of pineapple my Visiting Teacher gave me when she stopped by the day before.  

Cost for Pineapple Dessert cups…. Free

                                                                                  

TOTAL DINNER  ...... $1.68

Do we sound a little cheap?  Nope.  I  don't think so.  Frugal?  YES.  And, we are not saying NEVER to go out to eat.  We WILL and DO dine out about once a month.  But, when you just can't do that (or you want to save that money) plan ahead by building your resources and you just might have the means to Dine In for next to nothing!

HOMEMADE WHOLE-WHEAT DINNER ROLLS

 2 cups Milk (I use dry non-instant milk)

1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon Sugar, divided

1/3 cup (5 1/3 Tablespoons) Butter

2 teaspoons Salt

4 1/2 teaspoons Yeast

2/3 cup Warm Water (105-115 degrees)

1 cup All-Purpose Flour

7 cups Freshly Ground Whole Wheat Flour

3 Eggs, beaten

DIRECTIONS:   

• Combine milk, 1/2 cup sugar, butter and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter melts stirring frequently.  Do not cook on high or your milk will stick to the bottom & burn.  Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm by pouring into another bowl or large measuring cup.  It has to cool to lukewarm or your yeast will die.
• While the milk mixture is cooling, dissolve the yeast into warm water.  Give it a quick quarter of a stir, then sprinkle on top 1 tablespoon of sugar.  Let it stand about 10 minutes & it will be very bubbly and foamy)

• In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups flour and the milk mixture. 
• Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl. 
• Add yeast mixture and beat on high for 3 minutes. 
• Add beaten eggs. 
• Then stir in remaining 5 cups of flour to make a soft dough.

*NOTE- The dough will be very soft & sticky and pulling away from the sides of the bowl.  This is okay.

• Place the bowl in a warm place and cover with a clean kitchen towel.   (Linen towels are best because they do not leave little threads).
• Rise for about 1 hour.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

•  Punch down dough, and turn dough onto a lightly floured clean surface. 
• Divide in thirds.  Grease 2-3 cookie sheets.
•  Working with each third, roll it into a rectangle and then cut into 12 equal-sized pieces.
• Take each piece into the palm of your hand and fold the corners into the center to form a ball.  They should look like large walnuts.  For bigger rolls make them the size of golf balls.
• Lay each ball down right next to each other on the greased cookie sheet with the center on the bottom.   It is okay if the sides touch.  It is BEST if the sides touch, but do not crowd them.
• Repeat with remaining dough.  
• Cover pans with clean towels, and let rise 30-45 minutes. 

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden-brown.

When done baking, remove rolls from oven and then brush on melted butter all over the tops!

SAVE BY BUYING IN BULK

Helloo,

     Getting ready to do some holiday baking?  Do you have your coupons in hand & your sale papers marked up?  Or, do you throw the extra sugar, vanilla, chocolate chips, etc into your shopping cart while you do your regular groceries and think you've only gone over a buck or two?   Well, think again, because the average woman increases her monthly grocery bill by at least 15% on ingredients for holiday baking.

     Before you go out and spend look at the list below and compare it with what you will be paying.  After all, a penny earned is a penny saved (or something like that)and saving $60.00 this month can pay down your electric bill from last summers heat wave.

    My dau-in-law Desiree texted me last night for the prices on the following.  Desiree is a smart shopper.  She wants to know what and what not to buy that has been pre-packaged & what to get in bulk.  

     We think Winco stands in the lead for most bulk purchases so I've listed their prices here.  If you can find it cheaper anywhere else, GET IT, because you won't find them any cheaper anywhere else in our neck of the woods. 

These are Winco prices with little side notes that I think are important to know :)

Flour - .37 a pound

Baking Powder - 1.13 lb 

Baking Soda - .60 lb  -  I want to pay .50 cents a pound, so if you find it somewhere at .50 a pound, let me know.

Salt - regular iodized .24 lb -   

         sea salt .25 lb

Everyone has a different school of thought of salt.  We have both, but I only use the regular iodized in all my baking.

Cocoa - powdered - $4.35 lb 

Brown Sugar - .79 lb 

White Sugar - .59 lb (Feb 2011 the price was .46 lb*)

Chocolate Chips - $2.52 lb

Carob Chips - $2.15 lb (I use Carob & no one but my 6-yr-old g-dau Madison notices the difference.  She wrinkles up her nose & looks at me like, "what the heck is this?" - the little stinker)

Vanilla Chips $2.58 lb (I don't know if they are the same as White Chocolate Chips, but I use them in place of White Chocolate) 

Butterscotch Chips - $2.51

*I saved some of last years prices and discovered how fast some things climbed.  Knowing this has helped me plan for the upcoming year.  Since I know that 14 million corn crops were damaged this year I am planning for a spike in cornmeal, canned corn, and of course chicken bc chickens eat corn.

Let me show you how buying in bulk can really cut costs this time of the year...

I use regular flour, store-brand, unbleached that you can buy at Winco in bulk.

Flour - .37 lb at Winco right now.  (Last Feb 2010 flour was .29 lb*). 

It takes 3-1/3 cups of flour to weigh one pound.  

10 cups of flour weighs just over 3 pounds... 

So a 5 lb bag of flour is about 16-1/2 cups of flour and... 

Costs $1.85.

BUT... Gold Medal Flour in a 5 lb bag costs well over $3.00.  When you do the math, you are OVERPAYING by at least $1.15 per pound!!!!!

HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT GRINDING YOUR OWN WHEAT INTO FLOUR???

My wheat grinder I got for a steal when I bought it used.  I'm sure I'll have it a lifetime.

     Wheat Berries - I buy 25 pounds of Winter White Wheat for $11.45.  That comes out to .46 per pound.  

One pound of wheat berries at .46 equals 2-1/2 cups and when you grind it it becomes 4 cups of flour.

Two pounds of wheat berries costs .92 and measures into 5-1/4 cups.  When you grind it you will have 10 cups of flour (I measured, ground & weighed this morning) that weighs a little more than 3 pounds of flour.  The final cost is .92 for 3 pounds of flour or .31 a pound!   So, when you do the math, it's way cheaper to start converting to wheat, buying in bulk & building your food storage.

http://happyherbivore.com/2011/12/baking-powder-and-baking-soda/

Baking Powder costs $1.13 pound at Winco.  Baking Powder is so lightweight, you hardly need a pound for a year of cooking, but they say not to store it longer than a year or it will go bad (but I've had mine for 3 years & it's just as active)

Baking Soda - .60 per pound at Winco.  Baking Soda lasts forever in a airtight mason jars.  I havn't found anywhere that sells in 10 pound bags cheaper than .60 lb.  I want to pay .50 lb, so if you find it somehwhere at .50 a pound, let me know.

Even at $2.,72 for 8 oz (on sale at Walmart right now) it's still a little pricey.  

The containers you buy in the store are only 8 ounces & cost over $3.00 on a normal day.  When you buy in bulk you will pay $4.35 for one pound.  8 ounces is half a pound which is $2.18 when you buy in bulk, so if you think you are finding a deal at $2.72, think again because you are overpaying by at least $1.35 a pound that is .55 per pound TOO MUCH.  Instead buy in bulk & get only what you think you'll need, then add a little bit more.  A pound of cocoa is a LOT of cocoa)

 When it comes to Brown Sugar, those 2 pound plastic bags with the zipper on top seem like a good idea because they are convenient and they store well.  Finding them on sale for $1.89 or even $1.72 for store brand seems like a good deal, but did you know that you are paying WAY TO MUCH?  

It doesn't seem pricey at the time, but when you do the math, you will discover that you are OVERPAYING  by at least .20 a pound.  

If you were to buy 5 pounds at once at .79 a pound which will be $3.95, you will have saved $1.00 (at least).  Then you can go to the Dollar Store & buy a square plastic container with an airtight lid to hold it in.  If you are worried about it getting hard, lay a piece of bread on top & this will keep it moist.  When the bread gets hard, replace it with a fresh piece.  

Last year Brown Sugar was .68 lb*.  That's a price hike of .11 cents.  If I were you, I'd get 20 pounds for my storage.

     Well, have fun shopping, baking & giving!  Hope this has helped.  If you need anymore costs per pound, or ideas how to save money, send me an email & I'll answer right away!  

Nancy
nancy.providentliving@gmail.com