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!