Cheap Laundry Detergent & Automatic Dish Washing Detergent!

Everyone is looking for a deal these days. I am definitely one of those people. In my Homemade book I found a couple recipes on detergent and thought I'd try them yesterday. The results were astounding!

The first one was the Automatic Dish washing detergent. Each bottle we've been buying from publix or target (the no name brand) is between $2.50 - $3.00. 

The recipe is: 2 cups of Borax. 2 cups of washing soda. For each load of dishes, put 2 tablespoons of the mixture in the soap dispenser. I tried the mixture and ALL the dishes came out clean! My regular detergent doesn't always get all the dishes clean!

The Borax was $4 and the Washing Soda was $2. I purchased them at publix and to my surprise they were both located right next to the pricey detergents.

I also tried making the laundry detergent that was in the book. The recipe was really simple as well to do. 1/2 cup soap flakes (grate a pure soap bar), 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup borax & mix together.

I grated soap that I had extra from hotel visits. I picked a scent I really liked. I put the mixture in the machine & let the water rise.  Then put the clothes in. I tried it on Juan's t-shirts first to see what it would do. haha (with his permission of course)! The detergent worked really well.  

These were definitely simple to make. I'm glad I tried them. Plus I have A LOT of Borax and washing soda left to make much more detergent. I'm just not really aware of the effects of borax and washing soda vs. the leading brands. I'm going to do some more homework to find out more. I want to make sure if I'm going to the trouble of making it, it's good for my family and the environment.

If you have additional info please do share!  I'd love to learn more.

Made Beeswax candles & I'm an aspiring weirdo!

Had a super busy day today. Juan went to do a detail first thing this morning, so I decided while I had a couple hours to spare....I'd try to make the beeswax candles. I've been nervous about making them. I just didn't want to mess it up. I used the block of beeswax I purchased from Kittrells. I melted it on the stove and poured it into 14 tea lights, 2 medium sized candles & 2 larger candles. I think I might use some of them as gifts and & I have placed a lot of the tea lights around the living room & kitchen. They smell of warm honey. It's so nice.

The reason why I've been interested in using beeswax as candles is a few reasons:
- it's all natural
- it's a renewable resource
- It's 100% non toxic (especially because I used an all cotton wick)
- burn cleaner than any other candles
- Beeswax candles emit negative ions that actually clean the air
- Beeswax candles are naturally scented

I had a helper while I was making candles...he was pretending he was a drummer.

Juan got home from his detail and we headed to the Palofox Farmers market. I was disappointed there wasn't more produce to purchase. I suppose with Fall quickly approaching there aren't as many crops to choose from. This was Juan's first trip to the Farmers market. I bought some beeswax soap from Kittrells. Got it for $2 off the regular price since the packaging was slightly water damaged. I love getting a deal.

We then went to our indoor farmers market in pace & we found the same thing there. Not many produce selections. I bought some cherry tomatoes & a green bell pepper. We then unfortunately went to Walmart. We had a gift card to use so we decided to buy the bulk of our groceries there (instead of Everman or publix...like I usually like to). I was shocked and extremely disappointed that there is hardly ANY organic food selection at our walmart. I really haven't been going to walmart since I've been on this organic journey. I'm not sure what I was expecting today...but at least SOME choices. the only Walmart brand of organic foods I found was organic milk...but even then there wasn't a lot of selection in 1%, 2% etc...I only found 1 type of cookie that was organic. There was only 1 kind of yogurt that was organic & it was for babies. I was bummed, but thankful at the same time that we had a gift card that paid for our groceries...even when they were not organic.

I've been reading about CSA farming. Community Supported Agriculture. It's where you pay the farmer a certain amount of money up front and you get produce for the year. You own part of the farm basically and you get as much produce as you need. You just pick it up weekly. I haven't found one locally yet. I'm looking for one that's organic and close by. I don't want to have to drive out of state. I still don't know how much it would cost. I would also want to make sure they produce crops that I like. For example if it was a farm of okra & collard greens I wouldn't be buying into their CSA. Just thoughts I'm excited the organic food industry is growing.

Natalie & I went to Everman's this past week & I discovered there are definitely different groups of people that shop there. You can quickly decipher these groups as you walk about the store. This is just generally speaking. Not everyone fits into these categories...just funny observations I've noticed.

SURVIVORS:

1st of all you have SURVIVORS. Those that are living this lifestyle to simply SURVIVE.

FITNESS GURU'S:

There's the FITNESS gurus. You'll spot them right away. They're wearing running shoes, sporty shorts & a top, you can't miss them!  Then it gets a bit tricky....

HIPPIES:

there are the HIPPIES. You know them when you see them! 

FARMERS:

They work, live on a farm



WEIRDOS:

All that's left are the weirdos. They preach about living organic. They believe in ALL or nothing. They're wearing, eating, living breathing ONLY the organic lifestyle. 

So where do I fit in? Actually the only one possible would be a weirdo...or perhaps an aspiring weirdo...haha. I'm just on this journey discovering how to live my best life. Discovering how to be healthy.

So that's where I'm at right now...an aspiring weirdo.....lol!