Laundry Whitening Solution

I recently tried a "Miracle Laundry Whitening Solution" I found on Pinterest. We had some sheets that perhaps five or six years ago used to be white. Well, years of just washing and not whitening had taken its toll and they were looking very sad and grungy even when they were freshly laundered. So I figured I'd give this recipe a try. And I'm so glad I did! It's a little tricky photographing a pile of white sheets to accurately show just how bad they looked before and how much better they look after the experiment. But I think these pictures still give you an idea. Trust me when I say there is a noticeable difference and I'm more than happy to have given this recipe a try. I was too impatient and wanted to do the full set of queen sheets, pillow cases and mattress pad all at once so I did tweak the recipe a little since I was doing a bigger load than the other blogger.

One-Hour French Bread

In case you haven't noticed...I do a lot of baking and try a lot of new recipes. So far, this is my favorite recipe for crusty French bread. It comes together in minutes and you have a fresh baked loaf hot out of the oven within an hour! 

Three Ingredient Laundry Detergent

 Buying laundry detergent is one of my least favorite things to do. It can be SO pricy! And with as much laundry as I do every week, I couldn't help but picture hard earned money swirling down the drain with all the dirty water the laundry produces. But I can't not do laundry and I'm thankful to have a family that lovingly produces so many mountains of it. So I decided to find a more economical way to get the job done and found a recipe for homemade laundry detergent. There are a LOT of recipes out there. Many of them require a long list of ingredients, lots of time grating or melting bars of soap and lots stirring and sloshing soapy detergent around in big buckets. Not saying I won't try one of those recipes sometime. In fact, I'm planning on trying this simple recipe for 6-ingredient powdered detergent sometime in the near future. But a few weeks ago my laundry was looming and my detergent bottle was empty and I refused to go out and buy some more. That's when I came across this ridiculously easy and effective homemade laundry detergent. It requires three ingredients. Just THREE! And chances are you have all of them on hand!  You can whip up a gallon of detergent in no time and continue conquering the mountains of laundry without batting an eye. I have been using this detergent for a couple weeks now and have been totally satisfied with how our laundry has come out. Sure, the scent may not be as strong as your typical store bought detergent, but if you must have laundry that smells a certain way you can always throw a dryer sheet in the dryer. Works for me.

Homemade Yogurt

I used to think I needed a fancy yogurt maker contraption to make yogurt at home. Imagine my surprise and utter amazement to find out I could make it in a slow cooker with little to no effort in a matter of hours! I have not bought yogurt from the store for months now. This method is so economical and so very easy that once you try it you will not be buying it at the store again either!

Creamy Spinach and Lemon Soup with Orzo

One of the many reasons I love the autumn and winter months is because there is a chill in the air and it's the perfect excuse to have soups, chowders, chilis, bisques etc. I'm a sucker for warm comfort food.

Ants be gone!

A few months ago we had some uninvited, teeny-tiny house pests. These little sugar ants appeared out of nowhere and were in no hurry to leave. We tried to kill them all, wipe down all the counter tops, clean out the baking cabinet etc and yet reinforcement troops appeared again overnight. It was getting ridiculous and so frustrating and we were desperate to get rid of them for good. I did some research and found all sorts of natural remedies that claimed to annihilate the pesky ants and I tried a good handful of those tips (most of them all at once!) Like I said, we were desperate to regain control of our kitchen.

Simply Scrumptious Crock Pot Roast Beef and Gravy

This is a recipe for the easiest, most flavorful pot roast I've made in the crock pot. 

What I absolutely love about it is that it pretty much makes its own gravy. 

It's so nice to come home from church on a Sunday afternoon and have our entire meal 

piping hot and ready to serve. No waiting around for me to make the gravy. 

This recipe works well whether or not you add the potatoes and carrots. And the roast beef and gravy is wonderful served over rice. Or try my homemade Cottage Cheese Bread and make yourself an amazing tender roast beef sandwich!

Cottage Cheese Bread

 Cottage Cheese Bread is my new favorite homemade bread recipe. It is so quick and easy to throw together and takes little to no thought. I LOVE that I don't have to worry about kneading it!

This recipe yields one gorgeous loaf of homemade bread and I always double it! One loaf disappears very quickly in our house. Consider making this bread next time you're taking a meal to someone. 

Nothing says you care more than a beautifully browned loaf of homemade bread.
**update** I use this recipe to make pull-apart rolls AND cinnamon bread as well!
Doubling the recipe will yield a gorgeous big loaf of bread, a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread and a small round pan of pull-apart rolls.

Ginger Snap Cookies

These Ginger Snap Cookies are wonderful to bake year round but they tend to make it to the top of my fall and winter baking lists most frequently. They're the perfect chewy cookie with just the right blend of cinnamon and spice with a hint of honey and molasses.

No-Bake PeaNutella Bites

There is a recipe for No-Bake-Energy-Bites from gimme some oven that I've seen a ton of people pinning on Pinterest that I was eager to try. I wanted to make some for my sister so she would have something easy to pop in her mouth as she trains for an upcoming race. The only thing is when I went to make said recipe I did not have all the ingredients necessary. So I improvised and came up with Peanut Butter Nutella Bites aka PeaNutella Bites. If you love chocolate and peanut butter you will love these! They have just the right amount of sweetness and crunch. Beware. They're slightly addicting.

S'mores Cookie Bars

To celebrate this gloriously chilly and cloudy autumn Monday, I must wear my new boots (thanks for sharing the steal of a deal, Lauren!), a sweater, and I absolutely must share with you a delightful recipe for S'mores Cookie Bars. I first made these with little helping hands for my husband's birthday back in July. I've received lots of requests for the recipe since then and since I happened to have a picture saved, I decided I will post it and let you all bake some of your own s'mores goodness in your own kitchens. Happy Fall Y'all!

Pumpkin Bread with Pumpkin Buttercream

This weekend I had some pumpkin puree sitting in my 'fridge just begging to be baked into something. After a brief recipe search online decided to try this recipe. I was not disappointed. The bread is perfect by itself. Not overly sweet or pumpkin-y and just the thing to pair with a cafe con leche. It'd be good sliced, toasted, and slightly buttered with a touch of honey as well! But, I had enough pumpkin and couldn't resist making the Pumpkin Buttercream Frosting! It's a perfectly thick buttercream with a hint of pumpkin and cinnamon.

Perfect Apple Muffins

No, really! These truly are the perfect apple muffins! I'm forever grateful to my dear friend, Elizabeth, for sharing this recipe with me. This is my go-to recipe for apple muffins. I've tried numerous others simply because they've been pinned a million times or their photo makes them look so delicious...but every single time I'm just disappointed because they're just nowhere near as fantastic as these muffins here. 
I typically will double the recipe and once baked and cooled I'll wrap each one in plastic wrap and freeze them. Then in the mornings I grab one or two (or three) and thaw for around 30 seconds in the microwave. Perfect with a hot cup of tea or coffee. Do yourself a favor and try these asap!

Welcome to Grey House Green Door

 Yes, I've joined the millions of people who've started their own blog. The main purpose for this new endeavor is for me to have all my favorite recipes, DIY projects, crafts, homemaking and home improvement tips in one place. I constantly find myself referring to my Pinterest boards, friends blogs and countless bookmarks when I want to cook or bake something. Once I try something, whether it be a recipe or a project of some sort and if at all successful, I will most likely share it here. Won't it be so much easier to just visit my blog when you want one of my recipes or if you'd like to find out how I made something? And I won't have to search my bookmarks list or Pinterest boards for that tried and true recipe I should have memorized by now because I love it so much! You can follow me on Pinterest here .

I hope you'll be inspired to try new projects and that the homemaking tips will make your lives easier as they have mine. And I sincerely hope you'll join me in cooking and baking these tried and true recipes and that they'll become a new family favorite in your home!